Chuck vs the Replacement
by TakeItTo22
Summary: When Intersect 2.0 begins to take a toll on Chuck both mentally and physically, Chuck helps train the new Human Intersect. My first fanfic. Please R&R! Slightly AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.**

**A/N: This is my first fanfic, so be nice please! Um…I guess you guys should get a little background to this story:**

**This is a season 3 AU, but many of the events from season 3 transferred into the story. The main difference is that Chuck and Sarah got together, and Shaw didn't happen….yet. I mean, what?**

**Without spoiling my story, let's say that if Shaw does happen to come along, there won't be any lame love triangles, because, like I said, they're lame. :) **

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**November, 2011**

Sarah Walker used to be a very guarded woman. When you've spent your whole life under different aliases, moving from town to town, lying to too many people to even count, you always had to keep your guard up. In her senior year of high school, her life had changed: her father had been arrested, and she had been recruited by the CIA. Before, she had been able to put her guard down every once in awhile, which had allowed her to, for a lack of a better word, relax. But after years of training, years of learning how to lie to make others believe truly believe that she was the person she said she was. After years of training, she was able to completely shut off her emotions.

When Sarah met Chuck Bartowski, the tall, lanky man with curly brown hair, light brown eyes, and a warm smile, she couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth; a sense of comfort. When she had been assigned by the CIA to become Chuck's handler, the longer she got to know Chuck, the harder it was to keep her emotions in check.

It wasn't entirely Chuck's fault. The man is, in his own way, charming. Not only that, but he was incredibly funny, and sweet, and extremely caring. Nearly every morning, when they began their cover relationship, Sarah used to drive to Chuck's older sister, Ellie's apartment. At first, she would tell herself that it was to brief Chuck on an upcoming mission, or to fill him in on findings of a current mission. She would always fix his necktie, as to not raise suspicion from Ellie, but as the weeks turned into months, and the months turned into years, Sarah would just fix Chuck's tie just because she wanted to.

Okay, maybe she liked how Chuck would always smile lovingly at her, or how his breath would always catch whenever she reached up to straighten his tie. Maybe she liked how the second that Chuck saw her waiting in the courtyard, his eyes would glow at the sight of her.

But the point is, the longer that Sarah spent time with Chuck, the more difficult it was for her to keep her guard up. She used to become angry at herself. After all, she was a bad ass CIA agent who could snap a man's neck with her pinky if she wanted to. Sarah was the bad ass CIA agent that could manipulate _any_ man into giving her pertinent information just by showing a little leg and a flashing a wink. Most importantly, Sarah was the bad ass, cold hearted CIA agent who could keep her emotions in check, and live her life one mission to another. But when she met this guy…this Chuck Bartowski, it was just damn ridiculous at how he was able to make her feel, truly feel, emotions again. For the first time in her life, she was truly in love with the computer nerd.

In fact, she was so in love, and so comfortable around Chuck, that as Chuck stepped out of their bathroom, wearing a tuxedo, she didn't notice the slight outline of a velvet box, containing a diamond ring, in Chuck's pocket. If it were anyone else, she would have noticed the outline, but instead, with Chuck, she just focused on how handsome he was. Instead of feeling weary, she felt excitement. She didn't know why…she's been on plenty of dates with Chuck before. They've been dating for two years, after all. Never in Sarah's life had she felt so…_giddy_.

Chuck's grin widened as he stepped into the living room, seeing Sarah in a light blue dress. Sarah felt her cheeks becoming hot. Oh god, she was blushing…

"Wow," Chuck smiled, bringing his warm hand up to Sarah's cheek. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Sarah said shyly, covering Chuck's hand with her own. "You look very dapper. Handsome."

"Aw, shucks," Chuck said in a joking tone, but his cheeks turning slightly red. "Why thank you, Agent Walker. So shall we proceed with our night o' fun?"

Sarah giggled as Chuck performed the, as he liked to call it, the old Bartowski eyebrow dance.

"Yes we should, Agent Bartowski," Sarah said, blushing. "So what do you have planned?"

As Chuck flashed another warm smile, and took her hand in his own, Sarah couldn't help but feel as if she was the luckiest woman in the world."It's a surprise," Chuck laughed, as they walked out of their apartment.

* * *

**Two Years Earlier: May, 2009**

**Location: Intersect 2.0 Training Facility: Prague**

_Chuck was walking down the construction site of the brand new training facility between a tall, square jawed man, Colonel John Casey, and a redheaded, stern faced woman, General Diane Beckman. There were a countless number of men welding beams together, or laying the foundation of several buildings, but Chuck wasn't paying attention to them. Nor was he really paying attention to General Beckman as she was explaining the functions of the new Intersect 2.0 and the agendas of Chuck's training of how to use the new Intersect. He got the general gist of it: he would now be able to access multiple combat abilities, along with other skills such as dancing, gymnastics, and a lot of other skills to get out of hotspots as long as he was able to keep his emotions in check._

_However, all of the other words coming out of the General's mouth went in one ear and out of the other. Chuck's mind was elsewhere: the beautiful, electric blue eyed CIA agent who was still in Burbank, California to finish reports of the enemy agency: The Ring. He recalled the last time they had spoken, just after he had downloaded Intersect 2.0: _

"We could…" _Chuck remembered Sarah hesitating._

"We could what?" Chuck had asked.

"We could run," Sarah finished, quickly gazing around the base of operations, Castle. "Together. You and me. We go now, and we never look back."

Chuck hesitated before saying, "Are you serious?" He could hardly believe those words coming out of Sarah's mouth. Wasn't it hours before that she was ready to pack up everything, and leave for the new Intersect project with Bryce Larkin? And now she wants to run away with _him,_ as in, Chuck? Sarah had chosen Chuck?

"I have some money saved up," Sarah continued, looking intently into Chuck's eyes. "I'd have to get us some new identities. For now, go to the training facility in Prague. Meet me at the Nadrazi train station in three weeks time at 7:00, and I could figure the rest out later."

Chuck still couldn't believe his ears.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

Sarah swallowed.

"I'm saying that I want to be a real person again," she admitted. "With you. This is what you want, right? I mean, this is it, Chuck. Will you run away with me?"

"_Bartowski! Pay attention!" Casey barked, snapping Chuck out of his revelry._

"_I'm sorry, I was just…" Chuck looked around at the construction site. "I was just distracted by…all of this."_

_Chuck held his arms out, indicating the construction site._

"_I mean, wow! This is going slightly overboard, isn't it?"_

_General Beckman sighed, and shook her head. She craned her neck to look up at Chuck. There was a part of him that considered bending his knees down, just so she wouldn't have to look up at him as if he were some skyscraper. It was the nice thing to do, wasn't it?_

"_Chuck," the General began in her stern voice. "We're building all of this because you had never received proper training. We considered sending you to a CIA training camp, but we need Intersect 2.0 up and running as soon as possible, and at the camp, you would be training for over two years. Like I said—"_

"—_the Intersect was meant for a real spy," Chuck finished, feeling slightly ashamed. "For Bryce Larkin."_

"_Precisely," Beckman nodded. _

_Chuck heard Casey grunting. It was grunt number 231: the skeptical grunt._

"_The US government is spending millions of dollars for you to be the ultimate spy, Bartowski," Casey said. "You better not screw the pooch."_

"_I won't," Chuck insisted._

"_Good," Beckman said. "The Ring is growing stronger as we speak. We need you to be fully trained as soon as possible. It's up to you to properly identify Ring agents and take them down as we took down Fulcrum. Do you understand? We're depending on you."_

"_Yes, ma'am," Chuck said. "I'll try not to let you down…"_

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**Three weeks later**

**Nadrazi Train Station**

_Chuck felt the eagerness of Sarah's kiss. He felt her fingers in his hair as they trailed down to cheek. He felt the slight tickle as her fingers traced his jaw line before resting gently around his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. If it were any other time, he would have felt elated. But now, he felt conflicted._

_Chuck heard General Beckman's voice ringing in his head, which, to be honest, was an absolute mood killer. He was the CIA and NSA's only chance to defeat the Ring—their only advantage in put a stop to the rogue group. He would be letting them down if he ran. Not only will he let the agencies down, but he would let his sister, Ellie, her husband, Devon, and his best friend, Morgan down by not protecting them when it was he who could help prevent the Ring from threatening their lives. _

_If he didn't run away with Sarah, however, he'd be letting her down, and he wouldn't know if he'd be able to take her disappointment. Sarah wanted a normal life. She of all people deserved to have a normal life. From what Chuck gathered, she never had the opportunity, and if he ran away with her, he'd be able to show her what it would be like._

_Sarah slowly broke the kiss and Chuck saw that she was looking up at him with slight fear (or disappointment?) in her eyes._

"…_that wasn't the kiss I was expecting," Sarah said softly, trying not to let Chuck hear the fear or disappointment in her voice._

_Chuck gave Sarah a half smile. _Screw it, _he thought, looking into the love of his life's eyes._ I can't leave you behind…

"_Sorry," Chuck said, leaning down to peck Sarah's lips. "I'm just tired. Casey and Beckman have been making me run all these training exercises and you know me. Athleticism isn't one of my strong points."_

_Sarah beamed up at Chuck and he saw her breathing a slight sigh of relief._

"_Well, looks like I'm going to have to take extra special care of you," Sarah teased, taking Chuck's hand. "We should get on the train."_

"_Yeah," he agreed. "Let's do this."_

_Chuck stared out of their compartment window as the train sped along the tracks. He looked upon the Russian landscape. Never in a million years did he think that he would ever see such a thing in real life._

_Sarah rested her head on Chuck's shoulder, as she softly ran her fingers along Chuck's. Chuck desperately wanted to be happy. He _should_ be happy, damn it! There was no one in the world that Chuck wanted to be with more than he wanted to be with Sarah. To him, she is the most perfect woman in the universe. She's tough, caring, and smart, she always laughed at his stupid jokes, she's beautiful, and she's the greatest thing to ever happen to him._

_Chuck had ran this scenario millions of times in his head. In all of those millions of times, he always knew that he would be ecstatic when he finally got the chance to really, truly be with Sarah. But it wasn't ecstasy that he was feeling; it was a bittersweet feeling. _

"_Chuck?" Sarah asked, lifting her head up off of Chuck's shoulder. "Is everything okay?"_

_Chuck gave Sarah a reassuring smile._

"_I thought my name was Hector now," he reminded, smiling._

"_Oh," Sarah chuckled. "Sorry, I forgot. _Hector_ is everything okay?"_

"_Yeah, why wouldn't they be?" Chuck asked. He felt Sarah's eyes scanning him as if she were some sort of human lie detector._

"_Hey," she said, squeezing his hand. "I know something's up. You can be honest with me. What's wrong?"_

_Chuck shook his head and sighed._

"_It's just…" He saw Sarah's body tensing up before he continued. "There's an entire training facility here to train me; to turn me into Intersect 2.0. And…they told me that I was their only…advantage in taking the Ring down. I can help them. I can do something that _really_ matters."_

"_It's not that simple," Sarah said. "Nothing is real. This," she took both of Chuck's hands in her own, grasping them tightly, "This is simple. This is a real life."_

"_I know that, but—"_

"_They'll change you," she continued, her eyes showing another glimpse of fear. "They'll change you into a completely different person. If you go back; if you become a spy, you won't be…"_

"_I won't be what?"_

"_You won't be the guy that I met two years ago," Sarah said. "You'll be cold, constantly conflicted, and unfeeling. You won't be…_my_ Chuck."_

_Chuck gently wiped a stray tear off of Sarah's cheeks. _

"_What happens if I flash on someone? Like a terrorist? What happens if I ignore it, and later, they kill hundreds or thousands of people? I can't live with myself, knowing that I could have done something to prevent something like that from happening, but not doing a thing," Chuck said, feeling his heart breaking as he saw Sarah's beautiful eyes filling with more tears. "I think that would change me more than being a spy would…"_

"_You're going to…leave me?" Sarah asked, wiping her eyes._

"_I don't want to," Chuck said honestly, as Sarah looked away from him. "I can't hurt you, Sarah. You're everything that I've ever wanted, but…how could I just turn my back knowing that what I have in my head could help a lot of people? I could help protect the people I love…I could protect you."_

"_Please…" Sarah begged. "Don't do this. I know where you're coming from, but…"_

"_Sarah," he began, bringing her head up to face him. "I won't change."_

"_You can't promise that," she retorted._

"_Yes I can. I promise you that I won't change," Chuck said. "No matter what happens, as long as I know that you're with me, I'll still be…" Chuck hesitated before he smiled, "Your Chuck. Besides, I'm no longer an asset, and we can be together."_

_Chuck looked expectantly at Sarah for her to say something. After what seemed like hours, Sarah finally sighed before breaking into a smile._

"_You promise that we can go through this?" she asked. "That you won't change?"_

"_Yes," Chuck beamed, as Sarah leaned over to kiss him. When they broke off their kiss, Chuck finished, "I promise you. I've been in love with you pretty much since the moment we met, and I'm never going to let anything get in the way…anymore."_

_Sarah laughed._

"_And also—"_

"_Chuck," Sarah interrupted. "Shut up, and kiss me."_

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**November, 2011**

"So," Chuck laughed as they walked out of the laser tag arena, ignoring the onlookers gaping at him and Sarah. It was understandable: they were two grown adults, dressed in a tuxedo and an elegant dress that had just played an intense round of laser tag. "Did you have fun?"

"I can't believe you made us get all dressed up for laser tag," Sarah said, trying hard not to laugh at the absurdity of it.

"Oh, you know you had fun," Chuck smiled, as Sarah bumped her shoulder into him. "I mean, you were sniping all those little ten year olds. To be honest, I was starting to get really scared. You had this crazy look in your eyes! You reminded me of Casey, taking something that's supposed to be fun _way_ too seriously!"

Sarah playfully smacked Chuck's shoulder.

"Okay," she said sarcastically, "Says the guy that probably flashed to shoot out those guys that tried to look up my dress? If you _really_ think about it, it was your fault that they looked up my dress."

"How was that my fault? And I didn't flash, for your information."

"Oh, let me think," Sarah said, bringing crossing her arms, and looking up with a thoughtful expression, pretending to think, but unable to hide her playful grin. "Who's the one that said, 'Sarah, I have this amazing night planned. You need to wear a nice dress, and I'll get a tux, and we'll go on the best date ever?'"

"I didn't expect you to take laser tag so seriously," Chuck explained, laughing. "I mean, you were rolling around and diving like we were in a warzone! I mean, you freaking tore off the bottom frills of your dress just to climb the bird's nest! I never told you to do _that_, so it's totally your fault!"

"Can you blame them?" Sarah teased, smiling up at Chuck as she wrapped her arms around him. Chuck lowered his head so that their faces were less than a centimeter apart.

"No," he chuckled, kissing his girlfriend. "I can't say that I do."

"But I wish you would have given me a heads up on the laser tag thing. Then I would have put some panties on…"

Chuck's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"What?" he exclaimed loudly.

"I was kidding, Chuck!" Sarah cried, laughing.

"Do I really need to tell you the story of the neighborhood bicycle that I used to go to school with, Chastity—?"

"Harris," Sarah finished for him. "The girl that didn't wear panties to prom, and she ended up getting an infection, because she sat in a dirty chair…"

"Exactly," Chuck nodded.

"Well, with a name like Chastity, I'm pretty sure that the infection didn't come from a chair," Sarah joked. "But Chuck, you should know by now that I _always_ wear panties."

"I know, but…your…faux confession took me off guard," Chuck nodded, as Sarah stood up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss.

"So what's next?" Sarah asked eagerly, as they walked hand in hand back to Chuck's car; a gun metal Honda Accord. Chuck pulled open the Sarah's door, as she sat in the passenger seat.

"You hungry?"

"Indeed, I am, Mr. Bartowski," she replied.

"You want to go to the pier, and grab some cheeseburgers with—"

"Extra pickles?" they asked together. Sarah giggled, and nodded up Chuck. She stopped him before he shut her car door.

"Hey, Chuck?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Sarah," Chuck smiled.

* * *

The young couple walked along the beach, their stomachs filled from the French Fries and cheeseburger that they had eaten thirty minutes earlier. The man hand an arm wrapped around the woman's shoulders, and the woman leaned against the man. When they reached a certain spot, about a mile away from the pier, Sarah stopped. Chuck looked at her curiously.

"You remember this spot?" Sarah asked.

"How could I forget?" Chuck replied, grinning widely. "This is where you told me to trust you for the first time."

"You remembered…"

"Of course! That was the moment I knew that you were something special," Chuck explained, giving Sarah a wink before he looked up to the sky. Sarah looked up as well, and she saw a full moon. The moon, combined with the relaxing sound of the waves crashing, and the warmness radiating off of Chuck was intoxicating. She was so lost in the comfort that she didn't even notice Chuck reaching into his pocket, his fingers wrapping around a velvet box.

"Sarah," he whispered into her ear. Sarah smiled back to Chuck, and saw him taking a deep breath. He didn't return the smile as he exhaled. Instead, he had an extremely serious expression on his face. "I've been thinking a lot…about our future."

Sarah gulped. _Oh, Jesus,_ Sarah thought, _I thought things were going well between us! Like extremely well! If things were any better than this, then it would be illegal…Wait, why are you automatically assuming that he's going to break up with you? Hell, why are you_ _talking to yourself? I'm not! Yeah, you are!_

"Sarah? Are you okay?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Yeah, sorry…I just…um…"

"Sorry, I just have to say this before I start freaking out. You really have no idea how much I want to freak out right now, and you know what happens when I freak out, I tend to babble, and look! I'm babbling right now, and I'm sorry that I'm babbling, but sometimes I can't help it, and I'm also sorry that my palms are sweaty, you could let go of my hand if you want," Chuck rambled.

Sarah looked up at Chuck, confused. Chuck took another deep breath.

"Anyway, I love—"

_RING! RING! RING!_

_BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!_

Both Sarah's and Chuck's phones began to vibrate and ring. They both silently cursed as they pulled their phones out. Sarah read the text message from Casey: "New mission. Report to Castle immediately. Just sent Bartowski an image from a surveillance camera of a potential Ring agent with David Santucci. See if your girlfriend flashes on the agent."

_David Santucci? _Sarah wondered. _He's_ _the CEO of Treadstone Industries, the largest provider of weapons for the military. If the Ring's got him… _

Sarah turned back to Chuck, getting ready to tell him that they needed to get back to their base of operations, but stopped when she saw that he was on the ground on his knees, his head in his hands down, and breathing heavily.

"Chuck!" Sarah gasped, bending down, placing her hand on his back. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I flashed," Chuck said with his head down and holding a hand up to indicate to Sarah that he was fine. "Sometimes I get these headaches when I flash. I'm fine. The guy next to Santucci is definitely a Ring agent. His codename's Stonewall."

Chuck finally lifted his head to meet Sarah's gaze. She could tell that he was trying to hide his pain by smiling, but she could tell that his head was hurting him. Before she could suggest sitting this mission out, she noticed blood trickling down his nose.

"Chuck? Did you accidentally hit your nose with your hand?" Sarah asked.

"No. I don't think I did," Chuck replied, as Sarah helped him get on his feet. "Why?"

"You have a bloody nose," Sarah pulled her handkerchief out of her purse, and wiped the blood off of Chuck's face while he resisted. "C'mon. We need to get you cleaned up, and I'll call Casey to let him know that you're not feeling well. We'll send in another team."

"No, I'm fine!" Chuck insisted. "Really. The migraine's gone. It's only a quick flash, and then it goes away. Plus, I get nosebleeds like two times a year. It's no big deal."

"Are you sure?"

Chuck nodded. "I'm gonna go to the little boy's room to clean this blood off, and I'll meet you at the car, okay?"

"Okay…" she replied, unsurely, as she watched Chuck jogging over to the rest room. Before he went through the door, Sarah could have sworn that she saw his hands shooting up to his head again, as he stumbled through the door. "Damn it!"

Without hesitating, Sarah sprinted across the sand to the restroom that Chuck had just stumbled into. She burst through the door to see Chuck leaning against a stall, holding wadded up paper towels to his nose with one hand, the other hand kneading his temple.

"Sarah!" Chuck cried, startled by her sudden appearance. "This is the men's room!"

"I don't care," Sarah said, rushing over to Chuck, and placing her hand over his hand that was holding the paper towels to his nose. "You're in pain, Chuck!"

"No, I'm not!" Chuck said quickly, shifting away from Sarah.

"Yes, you are!" Sarah insisted, noticing that Chuck's body was beginning to tremble. Whether it was from anger or pain, Sarah didn't know. Either way, she felt a twinge of pain in her chest from seeing the man that she loved this way.

"This will pass in a couple of minutes," Chuck said, tossing the bloody paper towel into a trash can, and examining himself in the mirror to see if his nose had stopped bleeding. He was still trembling, and his voice was shaky as he said, "See? My nose stopped bleeding. My headache's gone. It happens sometimes after a flash. I'm fine."

Before Sarah could say anything, Chuck's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he collapsed onto the floor.

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**Yay? Nay? Let me know if you guys liked or hated it! I have most of the second chapter written, so that should be up in a couple of days! Thank you for reading!**


	2. The Calm Before the Storm

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Chuck**

**A/N: So I had this story all outlined before the last episode, **_**Chuck vs the Living Dead**_**, and well…the Intersect malfunctions described in my story are different from the actual show. Darn it…I was close though! **

**Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing! **

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Chuck stirred as he opened his eyes, finding that he was lying on the bathroom floor. He turned to his right, and he saw Sarah sitting beside him, smiling and holding a black laptop with green LED lights on the exterior. He had seen that laptop before. It was Orion's, the man who built the Intersect, design—his father's design.

"Sarah?" Chuck asked, confused. "Where did you get that laptop?"

"Ellie and I found this little chapel today for our wedding," Sarah said excitedly, ignoring Chuck's question. "It seats about 100 people, and I think it would be perfect for our wedding."

"Uh…what?"

Sarah opened the laptop, turning the monitor towards Chuck so that he could see the screen. He saw a green circle, and inside the circle, there were bold red letters reading:

**INTERSECT 3.0 ONLINE**

Before Chuck could fathom what was going on, the bathroom door burst open. A large man, his face hidden in the shadows, burst into the bathroom yielding two handguns, and pointed them at Sarah. Just as Chuck had lifted himself up to his feet, there was a quick flash. All of a sudden, Sarah and this faceless man were a hundred meters away from Chuck. He sprinted towards them, praying that he could stop this man before anything happened.

His legs began to burn as he urged them to run faster. Tears streaming down Sarah's face, and he desperately wanted to call out to her. Before he could get a word out, he heard a loud gunshot, and watched Sarah collapsed to the ground.

"SARAH, NO!" Chuck screamed, sitting straight up on the bathroom floor, a wave of pain piercing through his brain.

"Chuck!" Sarah cried, jumping back in surprise. "What happened?"

Chuck looked around his surroundings. He was still in the bathroom. Shooting quickly up to his feet, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, he quickly surveyed the bathroom, looking for the faceless man. There was no one in the bathroom except for Sarah and him. He turned to face Sarah, who was staring at him with a confused, worried expression.

"Oh, God, Sarah," Chuck breathed, rushing over to embrace her. "You're okay! Thank God!"

"Of course I am," Sarah replied, scrunching her eyebrows. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. Suddenly, he remembered the words: INTERSECT 3.0. He had to talk to Beckman. "Sarah, we need to get to Castle. I need to talk to Beckman."

"I think we should get you to a hospital…"

"No! I'm fine! We need to talk to Beckman!" Chuck pulled Sarah out of the bathroom. "I'll explain everything to you on the way to Castle."

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Casey and Morgan Grimes sat in silence as Sarah stood next to Chuck in front of the Castle communication monitors, while he typed in the codes to access communication with Beckman. A beep sounded, and everyone looked towards the center screen to see the stern faced woman staring back at them.

"Agents," Beckman nodded to Chuck and Sarah, before turning to Casey, "Colonel Casey," she turned to Morgan, "Mr. Grimes."

"Why can't I be Agent Grimes?" Morgan wondered aloud.

"Because you're an idiot, Idiot," Casey replied. "Now, shut up, and let the general speak."

"Thank you, Colonel," Beckman said to Casey. She turned to Chuck. "Agent Bartowski, did you flash on the surveillance photo?"

"General, does Intersect 3.0 mean anything to you? Are you building another Intersect?" Chuck asked, ignoring Beckman's previous question.

Beckman's expression was unreadable as she studied Chuck.

"That's above your pay grade. How did you know about the Intersect?" Beckman asked after a long couple of seconds.

"General," Sarah inquired, stepping in front of Chuck. "Chuck informed me that he has been getting these headaches for the last year, but every time they occur, they get worse."

"Sarah, please don't—" Chuck began, but he stopped once he saw that Beckman held her hand up to shush him.

"Continue, please, Agent Walker."

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah said. "After Chuck flashed this evening, I believe that he was in a great deal of pain. His nose began to bleed, and shortly afterward, he passed out. When he regained consciousness, he woke up screaming." Sarah took a deep breath. "General, Chuck has been having nightmares for the past three weeks."

Beckman slowly nodded, processing what Sarah had just told her, and she turned to Chuck with a serious look.

"Is that accurate?" she asked Chuck.

Sighing, Chuck looked away from the monitor before answering, "Yes, ma'am."

"Tell me about your…nightmares," Beckman ordered.

"They're not normal. I think I'm having flashes while I'm sleeping," Chuck said. "I believe the Ring has found a way to access the new Intersect. I saw one of my father's laptops. On the monitor, there was a Ring symbol, and I saw an operative. General, all of my dreams have been becoming true! Two weeks ago, I had a dream about a Basque terrorist in Burbank, and the next day, we captured him. I think these dreams are telling me something."

Chuck decided to skip the part where Sarah was in danger. His eyes were fixed on Beckman who seemed to be lost in thought. Finally, she met his gaze.

"Chuck," she finally said. "Is the man seen in the surveillance photo a Ring Operative?"

Chuck stood in confusion before he remembered the flash that had triggered these effects.

"Yes, General," he replied. "His codename is Stonewall. Does that mean that the Ring is using Santucci to make weapons for them?"

"I believe so."

"So what's our assignment?"

"Tomorrow, at precisely 15:00, I will send a request for Agent Alexandra Forrest to come assist Colonel Casey and Mr. Grimes to Treadstone Industries. You have all worked with Agent Forrest before. From there, Colonel Casey and Agent Forrest will go into the building, and break inside David Santucci's office. They will hack into his database, and copy purchase orders into a flash drive. Mr. Grimes will provide assistance from the surveillance van," General Beckman replied.

"Sorry, General," Chuck interrupted. "What about my…dream? Should Sarah and I go to the new Intersect site to keep guard?"

"No, Chuck, that won't be necessary. I assure you that we have round the clock surveillance surrounding the Intersect. No one but a select few can gain access to it," said Beckman. "As for your dreams, for now, try not to pay too much attention to them. For all we know, the dreams may be caused by stress."

Chuck wanted to protest; to tell Beckman that he never had a dream that was so vivid. He shuddered as he recalled the gunshots—Sarah collapsing to the ground as if she were a puppet whose strings were cut off.

"General," Morgan said, before Chuck could get a word in. "No offense, but I think I'm ready to do more than just staying in the van and staring at monitors. I mean, don't get me wrong, I really enjoy helping the team out, but I just _really_ want to get into the action. You know, beat up some bad guys…"

"Mr. Grimes," said Beckman in an authoritative tone. "You will _stay_ in the van."

"Yes, ma'am," Morgan mumbled, looking hurt.

"Um, General?" Sarah piped up. "What about Chuck and me? What will our assignment be?"

"Agent Walker, there is a CIA neurologist stationed not too far from Castle," Beckman explained. "His name is Dr. Marvin. I want you to take Chuck to see him."

"Wait," Chuck breathed. "A neurologist? Why do I need to see a neurologist?"

Beckman turned to look at Chuck with sympathy in her eyes.

"We believe that one of the major side effects of being a human Intersect is that…" Beckman took a deep breath before she continued. "There is a high chance that the Intersect may…overwhelm and deteriorate the subject's brain."

Chuck didn't believe his ears. He looked up, confused, at the monitor at Beckman. Turning, he saw that Sarah was surprised, a worried expression on her face, and he wanted to tell her that he was fine. Morgan gasped audibly, murmuring, "No…" Even Casey let out a surprised grunt.

"Let's not worry about this until we know for sure," Beckman said in a surprisingly reassuring tone to the team. "For now, Agent Walker, you and Chuck go home and get some rest. Colonel Casey, Mr. Grimes, be prepared to brief Agent Forrest tomorrow morning. You are all dismissed."

Before the monitor had flicked off, without saying a word to his team, Chuck walked up the stairs to leave Castle, Sarah following closely at his heels.

"Chuck, wait!" Sarah called, rushing over to grab Chuck's hand. She turned him to face her. "Hey…I'm certain that there's nothing wrong with you."

"I know," Chuck nodded, looking lost.

"Then what's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"That dream…it wasn't a normal dream," Chuck said. "It was so…vivid. I really do think that the Ring will try to get their hands on the new Intersect. If that happens, then—"

"It won't," Sarah promised. "Before we go see Dr. Marvin tomorrow, Casey and I will convince Beckman to increase the security around the new Intersect. And you heard what Beckman said, only a handful of people know about it. I'm sure it will be safe."

Although Chuck was skeptical, he nodded and smiled at Sarah.

"I'm sorry," he said. Sarah stepped closer to him, and wrapped her arms around his body.

"For what?"

"Ruining our date night."

Sarah shook her head, "It's not your fault that bad guys never take a day off. Besides, before our interruption, I was having a wonderful time."

"Yeah?"

"Yes," Sarah cooed, pulling Chuck's lips toward her own.

**

* * *

**

**Dr. Marvin's CIA Clinic**

"Sorry, ma'am," said the nurse, holding an arm up, stopping Sarah in her tracks. "We can't let you into the examination room."

"Right…" Sarah sighed, staring up at Chuck and giving him a reassuring smile. "Everything's going to be fine," she promised.

"I know," he laughed. "I'll see you in a bit, yeah?"

Sarah nodded, and gave him a quick peck on his lips. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," Chuck smiled, before he followed the nurse into the examination room. He stepped into the brightly lit room. To be honest, it was just a bland old examination room. There was a table covered with that crinkly hospital paper, the walls were painted white, and there were a few motel art type frames hanging around.

"Have a seat, sir," the nurse said kindly, gesturing toward the examination table. "Dr. Marvin will be in shortly."

After what seemed like years, an elderly, bald man wearing a lab coat finally stepped into the room.

"Hello, Charles," the doctor said, "I'm Dr. Marvin. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Hi, Doctor," said Chuck, shaking the man's hand.

"You look a lot like your father," the Dr. Marvin smiled as if he were Chuck's uncle. "He told me a lot about you and your sister, Eleanor; always saying how proud he was of you two."

"You…knew my father?" asked Chuck, surprised.

"He and I went to MIT together, and we also worked on the original Intersect," Dr. Marvin explained. "I believe I am the only man that your father trusted. I helped him with the molecular encoding. We still keep in touch from time to time. He's a good man."

"Yeah…"

"Okay, well," Dr. Marvin said, clapping his hands together. "I have a couple of questions to ask you. Fortunately, for you, General Beckman explained the specifics, so this shouldn't take long." Chuck nodded. "First question, you seem to be flashing while you're sleeping. How long has that been going on?"

"About three weeks," Chuck replied, wiping sweat off his palms on his jeans. "What does that mean?"

"I looked over the schematics for Intersect 2.0, and the molecular encoding program that was used was the same program that was used for the original Intersect," Dr. Marvin explained, pulling a stool over, and sitting next to Chuck. "As you know, Intersect 2.0 was far more powerful than the first Intersect. I believe that you are able to flash on certain skills, such as, martial arts?"

Chuck nodded.

"The codes used for those programs are highly advanced—too advanced for the molecular encoding program, which is meant to prevent your flashes from actually embedding themselves in your brain. You see, Chuck, I believe that the skills that you are flashing on are breaking down the molecular code, which is causing certain bits of intel to embed in your brain."

Eyebrows scrunched together, Chuck stared blankly at the doctor. "Okay…" Chuck said, "And that means…?"

"Again, this is just my theory, and I could be wrong," Dr. Marvin said, placing a hand on Chuck's shoulder. "But it _could_ mean that if the intel _is_ embedding itself in your brain, it can also break your brain matter down; causing it to…hemorrhage. Essentially, if my theory is correct, which, believe me, I hope it isn't, then there is a high possibility that you may…die."

Chuck stared at the doctor in disbelief for a few moments, before he finally uttered, "Holy shit…"

"It's just a theory, Charles," Dr. Marvin said, reassuringly. "If it makes you feel any better, I've been wrong plenty of times."

"Right…"

"So for today, I'm going to get a blood sample, and order a CAT scan for you," Dr. Marvin said, getting up off his stool, and pulling a pair of latex gloves over his hands. "The blood test results should be in around two to three days, so I suggest that you take a much needed break from government espionage and flashing until the test results come in. I suggest you stay at home as to prevent you from flashing. Also, I'm going to have to tell your partner about your break. Your father was a very stubborn man, and I'm fairly certain that you inherited that trait from him."

* * *

**Casa Walkertowski**

"Are you alright, Chuck?" Sarah asked as she and Chuck walked into their apartment.

"Yeah," Chuck replied. "I mean, I'm as fine as I can be, you know?"

Sarah nodded, looking around their living room, as if she were searching for something to change the subject.

"Something tells me that you're going to be fine," Sarah reassured. A half smile formed on Chuck's face as he nodded. "So," Sarah began. "Do you want to play some video games while I go out and get supplies?"

"What kind of supplies?"

"Well, you and I are going to be cooped up in here for the next two to three days. We're going to need a lot of food, movies, and…" Sarah smiled mischievously before saying, "Condoms."

Chuck barked out a laugh as he pulled Sarah close to him; their faces less than an inch apart.

"Why, Agent Walker," Chuck said softly. "Aren't we being especially naughty today?"

"What can I say? You bring out the worst in me," Sarah replied, pulling Chuck into a passionate kiss. "Okay," Sarah breathed when they pulled apart. "I'll be back in about 30 minutes."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"You know that the doctor recommended that you should stay home for a couple of days," Sarah scolded. "Besides, I'm just going to run to the grocery store and then Blockbuster's. I'll be back in no time."

"Fine," Chuck jokingly huffed. "I guess I'll just have to play with myself while you're gone."

Sarah giggled, and playfully smacked Chuck's shoulder.

"I meant _Call of Duty!_" Chuck laughed, while Sarah shook her head, and grabbed her purse off the coffee table.

"Sure you did," she laughed, walking over to give Chuck a quick peck on the lips. "I'll be back, okay?"

"See ya."

Chuck smiled to himself as he watched Sarah walk out of their apartment, and grabbed an X-Box controller from the shelf. While his video game was loading, the front door opened. Surprised, Chuck let out a startled scream, and jumped up to his feet, only to find his sister and her husband, Devon, smiling at him.

"Paranoid much, bro?" Devon asked, taking a seat next to Chuck on the couch.

"I know that we're family and that we're neighbors, but you could have knocked," Chuck laughed.

"Did you do it?" Ellie asked, ignoring Chuck's previous statement, and clutching onto his arm so tightly that he was beginning to lose circulation.

"Ellie!" Chuck gasped, "My arm. You're hurting it. Really bad…"

"Oh! Sorry!" Ellie said, as Chuck began to flex his hand in an attempt to regain circulation. "So did you propose to her?" Ellie asked excitedly, bouncing on her heels.

"Um…the short version is, I got…_sick_, and I didn't really come around to asking her yet," Chuck replied, shrugging.

"You got sick? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I got a headache, and it was bugging me. I think it was from all of the strobe lights at the…laser tag arena," Chuck mumbled the last words as if he were ashamed.

"You took her to play LASER TAG?" Ellie demanded so loudly that both Chuck and Devon jumped back into the couch cushions. "You made her buy a nice gown, and you rented a tux just to take her to play LASER TAG? Why didn't you just take her out to a nice restaurant and propose to her there—something simple?"

"Because that is such a cliché that it hurts my feelings, Elle," Chuck replied as if he were stating the obvious. "If I did _that_ then people would ask how I proposed, and I'd say, 'oh, I took her out to nice candle lit dinner, and I asked her to marry me.' How boring is that? At least proposing _after_ playing laser tag while wearing a tuxedo and an evening gown is more exciting, you know? But it didn't happen."

"Well, I think that would have been awesome, bro," Devon chipped in.

"Thank you, Devon!" Chuck said gratefully. "But yeah, I have to figure out another way to ask her. I don't know when though."

"Chuck, just ask her," Ellie insisted. "She's going to say 'yes' no matter what."

"I just want to make it memorable," said Chuck, shrugging.

"I know that you'll come up with a plan," Ellie. "Well, Devon and I are going to go out to get some lunch. Do you want to come with us?"

Chuck shook his head. "Sarah just went out to get some food. She should be back soon, but thanks for the offer."

"Okay," Ellie said, walking toward the front door. She stopped, and turned to face her brother again. "Just don't wait too long. I think Sarah's expecting something to happen soon."

"You didn't—?"

"No," Ellie promised. "Let's just say that she and I had a little chat, and leave it at that."

Chuckling to himself, he gave Ellie and Devon a small wave as they left the apartment, and walked into his and Sarah's bedroom. Still smiling, he picked up the trousers he had worn the night before, reached a hand into the pocket, and pulled out the diamond ring to return it to its hiding place: the modem of a gaming computer he had been designing on his free time. It was the perfect place to hide something from Sarah, as she did not have any interest at all in computers.

_I'll just ask her tonight_, Chuck thought. _Make her some pancakes or something…Ellie's right, just keep it simple._

Back in the living room, he plopped himself down on the couch once more, and reached for the X-Box controller as his phone rang. The caller ID showed that Morgan was calling.

"Hey, buddy! What's up?" Chuck said into the receiver.

"Chuck! Casey and Forrest were captured! The security is insane here! I can't get in! They need your help, man! Can you get out here?" Morgan breathed quickly. Chuck stood up off the couch, quickly pulled the cushions open, grabbed a tranque gun, and put it into his waistband.

"I'm on my way," Chuck said, putting his phone in his pocket. _Morgan said that security was insane,_ Chuck thought_. _He ran into his bedroom, and laid down on his stomach next to his bed, reaching for a box he had under there. He pried open the box, and grabbed the wrist computer his father had given him after Ellie and Devon's wedding.

"Sarah's going to kill me…" he muttered to himself, knowing full well that he will have to flash. Turning on his heel, Chuck ran out of the bedroom and out of the apartment.

* * *

**The 3****rd**** Chapter should be posted by Friday. Reviews encourage me to write faster! Thanks again for reading!**


	3. The Storm

**A/N: So the first part of this chapter was supposed to be in Chapter 2, but I figured a lot was already happening in the last chapter to begin with. But after the first part, the POV changes from Chuck's to Sarah's…just a little heads up.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**

* * *

**

**Treadstone Industries**

"Okay, Morgan," Chuck said, stepping into the van. "Tell me what I need to know."

"Casey had enough time to send me the purchase orders, and after that, he and Forrest were caught," Morgan explained, typing into a keyboard, and pointing up at a monitor. "That was the last place they were before the line was cut. The fifteenth floor…"

Chuck watched Casey and Forrest getting escorted by large men with guns to their backs.

"Chuck," Morgan began. "The security is crazy in there! Once Casey and Forrest were caught, all the doors were locked. I don't know if there's a way in!"

"It's okay, Morgan. I have this," Chuck held up his arm to show Morgan the wrist computer. "My dad made it. It can crack through any security code."

"Awesome! What do you need me to do?"

"Go back to Castle. Contact Beckman, and tell her to send some back up."

Morgan nodded, as Chuck shuffled out of the van.

"Be careful in there, man," Morgan said.

"Thanks, buddy. I will," Chuck nodded, as he turned and sprinted toward the building, while punching the password into the wrist computer.

The computer quickly loaded the schematics of the building, and informed Chuck that there were fewer guards stationed at the back entrance. When he got to the back entrance, the computer flashed the entrance code. Chuck pulled the tranque gun from his waistband, and took a deep breath before punching the code into the wall mounted number pad.

The door flew open, surprising the three guards. Before the guards could fully process what was happening, they were hit with tranque darts, and they fell to the ground as Chuck walked past their fallen bodies.

_No flash necessary,_ Chuck thought, grinning to himself.

The schematics for the building showed up on the wrist computer. Chuck quickly scanned it, looking for the holding cells. After a few seconds, he saw that the holding cells were located in the basement. The nearest staircase was out in the main lobby. Chuck walked over to the closest sleeping guard, yanked the tranque dart from the man's chest. The man was about Chuck's height, but he was slightly thicker than he was. Chuck pulled the guard's blazer off, and put it onto himself as he walked down the corridor, out into the lobby. It was a little too large for him, but he should be able to pass as a slightly casually dressed employee.

He was right. No one had noticed him, but then again, everyone in the lobby was shuffling around due to the security threat. Chuck assumed that security breaches were common in a weapon building facility. Walking inconspicuously through the crowd of employees to the staircase, Chuck glimpsed back to make sure that no one had noticed him before heading down the stairs to the basement level, stripping off the blazer.

Once he reached the bottom of the staircase, Chuck stepped up to the door to the basement level. He pulled his badge out from his pocket and his tranque gun from his waistband, and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, Chuck kicked open the door to be greeted by seven men all pointing their guns at Chuck.

"Put your guns down!" Chuck yelled, holding his badge up. "CIA!"

"We know," one of the men called. Chuck quickly recognized him as the Ring Operative, Stonewall, and dove out of the way as the bullets started flying. Chuck army crawled behind a wooden crate. Clearing his mind, and concentrating as hard as he can on defense tactics, Chuck felt his pupils dilate and his limbs becoming light as he flashed on Kung Fu and Gun Fighting techniques. When everything was uploaded into his brain, Chuck felt a harsh pain in his head, but he ignored it. He had to save Casey and Forrest.

Chuck dove from the wooden crates, and triple tapped the trigger to his tranque gun, hitting three operatives. Before he could fire off another shot, Stonewall came out of nowhere and kicked the gun out of Chuck's hand. Chuck blocked a punch from Stonewall, and delivered a haymaker of his own, only for that to be blocked as well. With their arms tangled together, Chuck quickly delivered a front snap kick to Stonewall's torso. As Chuck went in for a knockout roundhouse kick, he sensed someone charging at him from behind, so he quickly turned, and delivered a kick to the charging man's head. Just as the man fell, Chuck felt something pressing on his back: a gun.

"Don't move!" the man barked.

Swiftly, Chuck turned, disarmed the man, and pistol whipped him. Chuck turned the gun, and pointed it at Stonewall who had his hands up in surrender.

"Where are you holding my team?" Chuck demanded, cocking the gun.

"All right," said Stonewall coolly, lowering his hands. "Calm down. Your friends are in cell 8."

"Put your hands back up!" Chuck yelled.

Stonewall ignored him. "Or what? Go ahead, shoot me. Just know that you're too late. We have everything we need from Treadstone."

As Chuck was about to reply, he felt burning wave of pain shoot through his head. Dropping the gun, Chuck's hands involuntarily clutched at his head as he stumbled backwards. Stonewall acted quickly, delivering a shoulder block to Chuck's chest, knocking the wind out of him. A punch delivered by Stonewall landed on Chuck's chin, causing him to fall backwards. Chuck tried to shake off the pain from both his chin and his head as he blocked a large boot aiming for his face. He twisted Stonewall's foot, causing the enemy to fall and hit his head on a table.

"Oh, God…" Chuck groaned, still clutching at his head as he got back up to his feet. Ignoring the blistering pain in his head, he kneeled down next to Stonewall, searching the operative for handcuffs. He pulls the handcuffs out of Stonewall's pocket, and cuffs one end to Stonewall's wrist, and the other end to the man's leg. He repeats this process with the six other operatives, and stumbled down the corridor where the holding cells are located.

On the verge of passing out from the pain in his head, he lifted his left arm heavily, and began typing into the wrist computer to open the door to holding cell eight. The door swung open, revealing John Casey and Alex Forrest, an attractive, yet stern looking, blond agent that Operation Bartowski had previously worked with. The first and last time she had worked with the team, she had Sarah briefly dismissed from their team.

"Good to see you again, Agent Forrest," groaned Chuck, although that statement was far from the truth. Another wave of pain shot through Chuck's head, causing him to stumble sideways into the doorframe.

"Bartowski!" Casey rushed over to Chuck before he fell over, and caught him. "Christ, kid…you look like shit."

"And you look like Christmas morning," Chuck joked, despite the agonizing pain that kept shooting through his brain. Casey grunted, and walked out of the cell.

"We gotta get out of here," Casey said, "Think you can walk on your own, or do you need me to carry you, Princess? …Chuck?" Casey turned to find Chuck on the ground, convulsing.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Forrest asked, stepping away from Chuck.

"I don't know. C'mon, grab his legs," Casey ordered, as he sat Chuck up, and wrapped his arms around Chuck's midriff.

"Colonel, this guy's dead weight," Forrest said. "He'll only slow us down."

"Right, I forgot you were CIA," Casey grunted, pulling Chuck over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "You guys are all about turning your backs on people for your benefit."

Straightening up, Casey walked past Forrest with Chuck dangling over the Colonel's shoulders.

**

* * *

**

**Westside Medical Center**

"Morgan!" Sarah called, rushing over to the small, bearded man sitting in the waiting room. "What happened?"

Morgan dropped his head in shame.

"Sarah, it's all my fault! I should've called you instead of Chuck. I didn't know that he wasn't allowed to flash anymore! I'm—"

Forrest cut off Morgan's apology.

"The imbecile went against his doctor's orders, and now, he's paying for it," she said coldly. Sarah glared at the elder blond agent, desperately wanting to kick her ass. But right now, finding out what was wrong with Chuck was more important. She turned to Casey to see that he was glaring at Forrest as well, and so was Morgan (which was saying something, seeing as Morgan Grimes was probably the friendliest person on the planet). Agent Forrest shifted awkwardly on her feet. "I'm just saying that he could have called Agent Walker instead of trying to be the hero."

"Forrest, that '_imbecile_' just saved both of our asses. If I were you, I'd show some respect," Casey grumbled, turning to Sarah. "Bartowski flashed, and took out ten guards today. Dr. Marvin updated us about ten minutes ago, and he told us that…" Casey took a deep breath. "That Chuck's flashes are actually embedding into his brain, literally eating away at it as we speak."

Sarah felt her world shatter beneath her feet. Forgetting how to breathe, Sarah doubled over, clutching onto Morgan's shoulder for support. The little man gently dragged Sarah to the closest chair, and sat her down as tears began to form in her eyes.

"This…is…my fault…" Sarah whimpered to herself. "I should have stayed home…I should have stayed with Chuck."

"Walker," Forrest sighed, stepping forward. "It's actually my fault. I mistakenly trigged the silent alarm in the building. I was the reason Colonel Casey and I got caught in the first place."

"Hey!" Casey barked, as Morgan opened his mouth to speak. "Sitting here pointing fingers at ourselves isn't going to get us anywhere, you hear me? Bartowski did what he thought was the right thing to do. He did what any honorable man would do in that situation. Agent Forrest," Casey turned to Forrest. "Go to Castle, and give Beckman the post mission briefing. Alert her about Bartowski."

"Of course, Colonel," Forrest said, looking relieved to get out of this situation. Sarah gave her another glare as she swiftly walked out of the waiting room.

"Forrest and I are cut from the same cloth," Casey said, sitting down next to Sarah. "She just hasn't let Bartowski grow on her yet."

"Whatever," Sarah snapped stubbornly. "She's a trained agent. There was no reason for her to trip the alarms…"

"In her defense," Morgan piped up. "I mean, I know she's kind of cold…okay, she's extremely cold. Frigid is probably a better term for her. But that building had _really_ advanced security."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Walker," Casey agreed. "Listen, despite Bartowski's lady feelings and his girly screams, the kid is tough as nails. He's got himself a strong brain, Sarah. He'll make it through this, you understand?"

Nodding, Sarah looked to her side at Casey, and silently thanked the usually gruff man. In return, he nodded knowingly.

Agent Forrest returned about an hour later carrying four cups of coffee, offering a cup to Sarah as a peace offering. Without looking up, Sarah snatched the cup a little too harshly from Forrest's hand, and took a sip from the cup. She wondered what Dr. Marvin was doing to Chuck; what kind of drugs they were putting in him. She felt hopeless, knowing that the man she once protected, the man she loved, was in a great deal of pain, and there was nothing she could do to help him. For Sarah, this was the worst feeling in the world. Sarah was always a doer, doing whatever she could to get things done. And sitting here, in this bland waiting room, was a fate worse than death.

"Sarah? Morgan? …John? What are you all doing here?"

Sarah turned to see Ellie Woodcomb dressed in blue scrubs staring confusedly at the trio. Neither of them could answer the brunette woman. They didn't know what to say. Sarah saw Forrest reaching for her waistband, undoubtedly for her tranque pistol, and grabbed the agent's arm, and sharply shook her head at Forrest. Forrest rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms across her chest. Ellie stepped forward.

"What are you all doing here?" she repeated, looking around. Sarah knew who Ellie was looking for. "Where's…did something happen to my brother?"

"I think it's time to tell her. We're not telling Beckman about this, you understand?" Casey mumbled into Sarah's ear. Knowing that Beckman would most likely place Ellie into a secure bunker if she knew her brother's secret, Sarah nodded. She watched as Casey stood up, and walked over to Ellie, pulling her aside to tell her about Chuck.

"Is Casey telling her about the asset?" Forrest asked. "That's a violation."

"Please don't ask me questions that I can neither confirm nor deny," Sarah said impatiently. "Actually, if you can, please refrain from speaking to me at all. You have no idea how hard is it for me not to kick your ass right now for your last visit."

"I was just doing my job, Walker," Forrest snapped, glaring daggers into Sarah. "And if the Colonel _is_ telling the sister about Bartowski, then he is—"

"Sorry, um…Forrest, er…Alexandra?" Morgan inquired. "We get that you were probably the hall monitor in middle school, and that you probably hung out with the milk lady during recess, but can't you just let this _one_ thing slide? If Casey's really is telling Ellie about Chuck, there's probably a reason why he's not telling the general. Do you know what that reason is?"

Forrest, shocked by the little man's words, shook her head.

"It's because Ellie is just an innocent civilian whose brother happens to be an agent in the CIA, and maybe she deserves to know what her brother is doing," Morgan said. "Maybe Casey and Sarah know that if the general finds out that Ellie knows about her brother, then Beckman will go all…_bunker_ happy and lock an innocent civilian in a NSA bunker for the rest of her life. Just a reminder: that civilian's brother probably saved _you_ from hours of torture. So for once in your life, quit being a tattler. No one likes a tattler."

"Fine!" Forrest huffed, looking as if Morgan had pinched a nerve. Trying not to chuckle, Sarah gave Morgan a wink.

"Ah, Agent Walker, you're here," a voice called. Sarah turned to see Dr. Marvin walking toward her.

"Hello, doctor," Sarah said, getting up eagerly. "How's Chuck?"

"His latest CAT scan showed a significant difference from his earlier scan just four hours ago," Dr. Marvin replied, wiping dust off his glasses. "He was in a great deal of pain earlier, but now, he's stable."

"That's good, right?" Morgan asked eagerly, standing beside Sarah.

"Yes and no," Dr. Marvin said. "The good part is that his last flash did not damage any brain tissue, but…the bad part is, I believe that if Chuck were to flash again…it could potentially be his last."

"What?" Morgan asked. "What does that mean?"

"It means that if Bartowski flashes again," Forrest said. "He'll receive permanent brain damage, or he could…die."

Once again, Sarah felt as though a bull had gored her chest.

"This can't be happening," Sarah gasped. "There has to be something we can do!"

"We have to call Orion," Dr. Marvin said. "We have to get the Intersect out of his head as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I haven't been in contact with Orion in quite some time—"

"Ellie," Sarah said. "She'd know how to get in contact with him. He's her father."

"Of course," Dr. Marvin nodded as Sarah began to walk away to find Ellie. "Agent Walker!" the doctor called. Sarah turned. "I suggest you try to find Mr. Bartowski's father as quickly as possible."

Sarah nodded, and turned to sprint toward Ellie. Running down the hall, ignoring the scandalized looks from the doctors and nurses as she shoved past them, Sarah found Ellie speaking to Casey.

"Sarah!" Ellie breathed. "Is this true? Is my brother really a spy for the CIA?"

"Ellie, you have to keep quiet!" Sarah scolded. "Listen, I'll explain everything properly to you, but for now, do you know how to contact your father?"

"Her father—?" Casey inquired, but Sarah held a hand up to shush him.

"Yeah…but what does he have to do with anything?"

"He can help Chuck," Sarah replied. "Ellie, you have to contact your father as quickly as possible. Please."

"Okay, yeah…" Ellie breathed. "I'll get on it."

"Please hurry!" Sarah begged. Ellie nodded, and sprinted down the corridor.

"Walker," Casey began. "What's happening?"

"Chuck needs to get the Intersect out of his head before it kills him," Sarah replied.

**

* * *

**

Sarah sat beside Chuck's bed, hitting the send button on an email that she had been writing Beckman. Chuck's face was pale, and although he was asleep, Sarah knew that he was still in pain. Dr. Marvin had told her that the only thing she could do was to wait. He had suggested that she go home and get some rest, but she stubbornly refused. Morgan had wanted to stay by Chuck as well, but Sarah insisted he go home and come back in the morning. Casey had taken Ellie to her father's cabin not too far from Burbank two hours ago. They should be back any moment. When they did, Sarah would be relieved, knowing that Stephen Bartowski can get the Intersect out of Chuck's head.

As if on cue, the door to Chuck's room opened. Turning, Sarah saw Dr. Marvin and Stephen Bartowski shuffling into the room, carrying a black laptop, with Ellie and Casey at their heels. Without preamble, Dr. Marvin spoke, "We're going to wake him up now. We're going to need you all out of the room for this."

Sarah didn't want to leave Chuck, but she knew she had no choice. She followed a stoic Casey, and a worried Ellie out of the hospital room. As she passed Mr. Bartowski, she could have sworn that he had given her a dirty look.

"It seems that Mr. Bartowski didn't know that Chuck reuploaded the Intersect," Casey said as the door to Chuck's room slammed shut.

Before Sarah could nod in reply, Ellie stepped up toward her; her face twisted in anger.

"Are you in love with my brother?" Ellie demanded with such force that it had even John Casey recoiling back. "John here told me all about your cover. I swear, if it really is just for cover, I don't give a shit about your training, or my oath to save people, I will kill you! Chuck deserves better than a fake girlfriend!"

"Ellie, I told you that it's no longer a cover," Casey reassured. "They're really together now. They have been for about two years."

"It's true, Ellie," Sarah promised. "At first, we had been cover dating for two years, but we've been _really_ dating for the last two. I've always had feelings for your brother. I swear. I love him."

"Ugh…" Casey groaned, mumbling, "Lady feelings…"

Both Sarah and Ellie ignored him, the latter still surveying Sarah with a deadly look.

"What's going to happen when they get that…_thing_ out of Chuck's head?" Ellie asked. "Are you just going to pack up and leave him behind?"

"No," Sarah insisted. "I've already tendered my resignation."

"What?" Casey barked. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"I'm not letting anything get in between us again," Sarah replied, her voice implying that she wasn't going to say anymore. Sarah turned to Ellie, whose expression had softened. Ellie opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a loud, pain filled scream. Immediately, Sarah turned to the door, trying to push it open. It was locked. "Chuck!" she screamed, banging on the door.

"It's okay!" Dr. Marvin yelled through the door. "We're removing the Intersect."

But the only thing that Sarah had heard was Chuck's agonizing scream. She took a step back, and kicked the door with all her might. It didn't budge. As she lifted her leg once more, Casey grabbed her by the waist, lifting her off the ground.

"Stand down, Walker!"

"Chuck's in trouble!" Sarah yelled, Chuck's wails still echoing in her ears. "Chuck! PUT ME DOWN, CASE—" her hand shot up to her neck, feeling a sharp sting, to find that she had been tranqued. Her head felt heavy as she turned it to see Agent Forrest lowering her tranque pistol. "You…_biiit_…." And her vision blurred…

The next thing Sarah knew, she was lying in a hospital room, squinting up at the florescent lights up on the ceiling. She raised her heavy head. On her right, she saw Chuck beaming at her.

"Good morning, Sunshine," Chuck said, grinning.

"What…what happened?" Sarah asked groggily.

"Forrest tranqued you," Chuck replied, still grinning. "Ellie and Dr. Marvin had the nurses set up a bed for you in my room. It is…" he checked his watch, "3:23 P.M. You've been out for about fifteen hours."

"Ugh…" she groaned. "That bitch…Forrest," she added. "Not Ellie..."

Chuck chuckled.

"So how are you feeling?" Sarah asked. "Is the Intersect out?"

"Yeah," Chuck answered soberly, reaching over to his nightstand to pour Sarah a cup of water. "They got it out. I should be fine."

"That's good," Sarah said, taking the cup of water from Chuck. "Thank you."

"No problem…" Chuck murmured. "So…I guess I'm not a spy anymore." Chuck laughed bitterly.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know. I mean, I've gotten so used to going out on missions. I don't know if I can just…go back to the way things used to be, you know?" Chuck sighed. "Don't get me wrong, it's also relieving, knowing that I won't be getting shot at everyday, but…I just don't know how I'm going to make that transition."

"I guess we'll have to find out together," Sarah smiled, reaching over to take Chuck's hand. Chuck scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"We said we wouldn't let anything get in between us in Prague, remember?" Sarah asked. "And if you're no longer a spy, well, neither am I."

Chuck looked away from Sarah, lost in thought.

"You once said that the spy life is the only life you know," Chuck sighed. "I don't want to take that away from you."

"I said that years ago, Chuck," Sarah smiled. "A lot has changed since I said that. I know now that there's something more important out there. I want to quit this life."

A smile slowly formed on Chuck's face, reaching his eyes. "Really?" he asked.

"Really. It's what I want," Sarah promised, lifting herself of her bed, and moving over beside Chuck. She brought her face down close to him, whispering, "I love you, Chuck Bartowski."

"I love you too, Sarah Walker," replied Chuck, brushing a strand of Sarah's hair behind her ear, his lips meeting hers.

"So," began Sarah, sitting beside Chuck on his bed. "Where do we go from here?"

"Well, I have some ideas," teased Chuck, as he propped on and elbow, and leaned over to his right. Sarah's eyes followed Chuck's body as he lifted a grey computer from the ground. "I had Morgan bring this over while you were sleeping," explained Chuck.

"Wow…I always knew you were a nerd, but you actually wanted to finish your computer while you're recovering at the hospital?" teased Sarah.

"For the most part, it's done," replied Chuck, handing the computer to Sarah. "I just need to finish assembling the graphics card…actually, I won't bore you with the details." Chuck smiled, absentmindedly scratching a tiny scar on the side of his neck, as Sarah studied the computer. "Anyway, I'm thinking about calling that the Treasure Chest."

"Are you going to market it?"

"Well, I'm going to try to make it look prettier, I mean, it's pretty bland right now don't you think?"

Sarah nodded in reply, staring at the simple grey box.

"Why are you calling it the Treasure Chest?" asked Sarah.

"Because," beamed Chuck, "if you open it, you'll find a treasure. Hopefully, in your case, the future…"

"…what?" asked Sarah, raising an eyebrow.

"See that little indent there on the right side?" Chuck pointed to a tiny handle. "Pull it, and you'll see what I mean."

Confused, Sarah pulled the tiny handle. _Chuck should know that I have no interest in what the hell is inside a computer_, she thought as she pulled off the side panel. And then she saw it: inside, there was a tiny, black velvet box. Jaw dropping, Sarah turned to Chuck who was wearing a warm smile on his face. Pulling himself up to a sitting position, Chuck took the box out of the computer.

"Sarah," breathed Chuck, taking Sarah's hand. "You know that I've been in love with you since the moment you helped me figure everything out on that beach, and you told me to trust you. These last few years that we've had, although frightening, were also some of the best years that I've had in my life. Before you, I was just some loser, working at a Buy More who hated himself. I was never able to let go of the past. But after you came into my life, you helped me get past everything. You helped me look forward to the future. To be honest, I don't know what I'm going to do after this. What I _do_ know is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So…what I'm trying to ask is," Chuck took a deep breath, and popped open the velvet box, revealing a marquee cut diamond ring. "Sarah…will you marry me?"

Prying her eyes away from the gorgeous ring, Sarah's eyes met Chuck's hopeful eyes. It could have been a second, it could have been hours, Sarah didn't know. What she did know was that in that moment, her future flashed before her eyes: Lazy Sundays sprawled out on the sofa with Chuck holding her close as they watched TV, waking up every morning to make breakfast, falling asleep tangled in his arms, and for the first time in her life, she saw herself in a white dress, walking down the aisle towards a beaming Chuck, dressed handsomely in a tuxedo.

"Wow…" sighed Chuck, shaking Sarah out of her thoughts. "I'm in a hospital gown, and you're probably hung over! Smooth, Chuck, real smooth…I'm sorry. I should have waited and asked you later when I was discharged, or at least had some pants on, because chances are, I'm making a fool out of myself…"

"Yes," said Sarah, exhaling.

"Right…well…I think I should—" began Chuck, gazing around the room as if he were trying to find something to deflect on.

"No, Chuck," smiled Sarah. "Yes. I'll marry you."

* * *

**That's right! No cliff hanger! But the story really kicks off in the next chapter. The last three chapters were sort of the prologues. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	4. The Replacement

**A/N: So how about that finale? I personally thought it was amazing! Anyway, so this is another introductory chapter about Sarah and Chuck's new lives. There are some flashbacks, and well…just read it. Haha. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! Reviews are awesome! Just like the finale…**

**Oh, once again, I don't own anything except seasons 1 and 2 on DVD.**

**

* * *

**

**Castle, 19 Hours Later**

A beeping noise emitted from the main monitor inside the Castle base as General Beckman appeared on the screen, wearing her usual stern expression. Without preamble, the general spoke to the group of agents for what Sarah believed to be the last time.

"Colonel Casey, Agent Forrest," said Beckman. "Unfortunately, we were too late to stop the shipment of the Ring's weapons orders. It seems that the Ring is now in possession of bunker busting missiles, and intelligence believes that they will be targeting CIA bunker facilities spread across the nation. Thankfully, we now have time to evacuate the teams before the Ring decides to act."

"Why would they be targeting CIA bunkers?" asked Morgan.

"Because, numb nuts, we have a lot of intelligence on them," replied Casey.

"Thank you, Colonel," Beckman said to Casey. She turned her attention to Sarah. "Agent Walker."

"Yes, General?"

"I received your letter of resignation, and I must ask, are you certain that you want to quit the agency?"

"I'm sure, ma'am," replied Sarah, taking Chuck's hand.

"I suppose the same goes for you, Agent Bartowski?"

"Yes, General," said Chuck, smiling at Sarah. "I mean, there's really not much I can do now that I have the Intersect out of my head, is there?"

"In fact, there _is_ something that you can do," said Beckman. "Both you and Agent Walker."

Sarah and Chuck both exchanged looks. They had both agreed that no matter what, they were done with the agency, both ready and wanting to live a normal life.

"It's a fairly simple request," continued Beckman. "Firstly, your aliases, Charles Carmichael and Sarah Walker are dead for both of your protection. Everyone already believes that Agents Carmichael and Walker died while out on a mission in Paraguay. Starting today, you both have your identities back. Chuck, you'll simply be known as Charles Irving Bartowski, with a degree in science and engineering from Stanford. Sarah, you will be known as Samantha Lisa Reynolds, with a degree in…literature…from Harvard."

"Literature? Really?" teased Chuck.

"What? I like to read…in the back of my mind, I always wanted to be a teacher…" Sarah replied shyly.

"The request is," Beckman interjected. "we would like you two to help the new Intersect team."

"General…we no longer want to be out in the field…" said Sarah.

"You won't be, Ms. Reynolds," said Beckman, leaving Sarah feeling a little strange at being called by her _real_ name. "We want you to be the deputy director of the new Intersect team. You will brief the new Intersect team with new mission information, and you will also run their missions. We are currently constructing a new base of operations in LA. If you want the job, it's yours for the taking, Ms. Reynolds.

"As for Mr. Bartowski," continued Beckman to Chuck. "For the past three months, we have been issuing out the same image based encoding test that you took in Stanford. I believe that you received a 98% on that exam?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Chuck.

"We tested over 400 agents, and the highest scorer was an agent named Daniel Shaw," explained Beckman. "He received an 84% on his test."

"Good for him…" mumbled Chuck still not sure why any of this should matter to him.

"While Agent Shaw should be able to download the Intersect into his head, we believe that he will have trouble…comprehending his flashes," said Beckman. "If you choose to assist us, you will be the head analyst of this operation. You will also help Agent Shaw interpret his flashes. Essentially you would be training him."

Sarah glanced at Chuck who looked lost in thought. "May we have a couple of days to think it over, ma'am?"

The general nodded.

"Effective immediately, Operation Bartowski is now terminated," said Beckman. "Colonel, please give Mr. Bartowski and Ms. Reynolds their final documents. Afterward, send all intel you have on the Ring to Langley, and abandon Castle. Mr. Bartowski, Ms. Reynolds, your government thanks you for your years of service. I hope to be working with the two of you again."

Before Beckman signed off, Sarah spoke, "General? I have one request."

"Yes, Ms. Reynolds?"

"If it's possible, I would like to keep my cover name," said Sarah. "It's just that…I feel more like a Sarah…"

"Well," said Beckman, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I suppose we can change your birth certificate to say Sarah Lisa Reynolds, but for your protection, I cannot allow you to keep Walker as your last name."

"Understood, general," nodded Sarah. "Thank you."

"We'll be sending the two of you your proper identifications later this week," Beckman gave one final nod, but before she signed off, Morgan spoke.

"General, if you're going to be torching Castle, um…can I have the TV?" asked Morgan. "I mean, it's a 52 inch plasma, and it breaks my heart knowing that it's going to be destroyed…"

With a sigh, Beckman said, "Fine, Mr. Grimes," and signed off, leaving Morgan to fist pump the air.

"Looks like the two of you have a lot to think about," said Casey, as Sarah and Chuck exchanged dumbfounded looks. He tossed over two manila envelopes to them. "Those are your pay packets."

"Thank you, Casey," said Sarah, looking around Castle. "Do you guys need help with anything…?"

"No thanks," replied Casey, getting up out of his seat. "I think we can take things from here."

"Right," said Chuck, standing up to his feet. He held a hand out to Casey. "Well, Casey…it's been a pleasure working with you, big guy."

"You weren't so bad yourself, Bartowski," said Casey, shaking Chuck's hand. "Take care of Sarah and yourself, kid."

"I will," Chuck promised, flashing a warm smile at Sarah. Awkwardly, Sarah reached up to embrace Casey in a hug. The big man seemed taken aback by it.

"Thanks for always watching my back," smiled Sarah. "You were an excellent partner."

"You weren't so bad yourself," grunted Casey, fixing his collar. "Well, hopefully we'll work together again."

"You do know that if I take the job, I'll be your boss, right?" teased Sarah. Casey shrugged.

"It could be worse," Casey chuckled. "Well, you two take care of yourselves."

**

* * *

**

**Casa Walkertowski**

Apart from a few short sentences, Sarah and Chuck haven't said too much to each other. As Sarah gathered together ingredients for their dinner, Chuck immediately began to mince cloves of garlic.

Sarah laid a layer of lasagna noodles in the baking pan over the meat sauce, added another layer of sauce over the noodles, and another layer of noodles over the sauce. She repeated this process until the pan was full, and popped the pan into the oven. It was proving to be a very stressful day for her.

First, she had the great idea to invite over Chuck's family for dinner so that they can tell Chuck's family the truth about everything. _Smooth move, Ex-Lax,_ she thought. _You should have just made a reservation at a restaurant_. But deep down, Sarah knew this was the right thing to do. Now that Ellie knew that Sarah used to be an agent in the CIA, Sarah felt like she should show Ellie how she truly feels about Chuck. There's also the fact that Stephen Bartowski will be coming for dinner as well, and Sarah's positive that he's very unhappy with her. So this dinner needs to be perfect. She needs to show them that she really does deserve Chuck, and that she really is in love with him.

Secondly, why did Beckman have to offer her that damn job as deputy director? After hours and hours of discussing with Chuck about their new, normal lives, and how they were ready to be away from all this…_spy _crap, Beckman just _had_ to offer her a job.

To be honest, Sarah wanted the job. Actually, there were a number of things Sarah wanted. Unfortunately, the things she wanted all contradicted each other. She wanted a normal life for her and Chuck; a nine to five job, coming home and relaxing, naïve to all the true dangers out in the world, and starting a family. She also felt that she hadn't fulfilled her duty. The Ring was still out there, growing in power every day. How could she live the normal life that she so desired knowing that the rogue group was out there?

"Hey," said Chuck, snapping Sarah out of her thoughts. She turned, and saw him placing garlic bread into the oven, and wiping his hands off on his apron. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," replied Sarah.

"No, you're not…" sighed Chuck. "We should talk."

Nodding, Sarah took Chuck's outstretched hand, and followed him into their living room. As they sat on the couch, Chuck wrapped his arm around Sarah, pulling her close to him, and placed a kiss to her head. It was at that moment that she knew what was going to happen. She didn't want it to, but honestly, there was no other choice for them…

"So what do you want to do?" he asked softly.

"I want to tonight to go well," she replied, avoiding the inevitable. She just wanted one more moment of normalcy before the two of them were thrust back into the world of rogue agents and danger.

"You know what I meant."

"Yeah, I know what you meant," nodded Sarah, breathing in Chuck. "Chuck?"

"Yeah?"

"I think you already know what we need to do…"

"I do," said Chuck, sighing. "I don't know if we can try to move on, knowing that the Ring is out there…not knowing whether our friends are safe or not. I know that you can't either."

"Yeah," agreed Sarah. "Promise me something?"

"Anything."

"When we finally take out the Ring, no matter what, we'll leave the agency together? _Finally_ start living a normal life?"

"Of course," said Chuck. "I'd say that you, of all people, deserve some normalcy…"

Shifting, Sarah turned to stare into Chuck's eyes.

"So do you want me to call Beckman?" asked Chuck, smiling down at Sarah.

Chuck reached for his laptop, resting on the coffee table, and typed in the code to call Beckman. Within seconds, they saw her peering up in surprise.

"I didn't expect you two so soon," she said. "So do you have an answer for me?"

"Yes, General," replied Sarah. "We agreed to help under one condition."

"What's that?"

"When the Ring has finally fallen, Chuck and I want no more to do with the agency," said Sarah.

"Fair enough," nodded Beckman. "Is that all?"

"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.

"Very well. The CIA will begin setting up your new base of operation tomorrow morning. Your team members will consist of Colonel Casey, Agent Forrest, Mr. Grimes, and Agent Shaw," Beckman informed. "Mr. Bartowski, next Monday, I would like for you to report to the Los Angeles CIA facility for Agent Shaw's download. Starting tomorrow, you will be the only person to gain access to the Intersect 3.0 computer."

"Uh…may I ask why?" asked Chuck.

"You're the only person that I can think of who won't use the Intersect for personal gain," said Beckman simply. "You, and the newly appointed Deputy Director Reynolds," Beckman nodded to Sarah, "and I are to be the only ones to know this. If word gets out, you will most likely have a bull's eye painted on your back."

"Isn't there anyone else?" asked Sarah, feeling worried for Chuck's safety.

"While there are other people, I don't trust anyone with this responsibility as much as I trust Chuck. I assure the two of you that Chuck will be safe," replied Beckman. "Do you accept, Chuck?"

Chuck gave Sarah a hard look, and he turned back to Beckman, "Yes, ma'am. I accept."

"Excellent," Beckman nodded. "I'll be contacting you in two days. Until then, enjoy your time off."

"Thank you, General," they said, watching as Beckman signed off. As soon as the small woman disappeared from the monitor, Sarah turned to Chuck.

"Don't you think that you and I should have discussed the part about you being the only person who can access the Intersect?" she asked, feeling slightly annoyed by Chuck's automatic acceptance.

"What's there to discuss?" asked Chuck, shrugging. "The only people that know that I can access it are you, Beckman, and me. I trust that you won't tell anyone, and the same goes for Beckman. She may be harsh from time to time, but I know that she'd never sell me out."

"Fine," huffed Sarah. "But next time something like this comes up, promise me that we'll discuss it first? We're engaged now…"

"I promise," he smiled widely, kissing Sarah. "Hey, quick question, do you know anything about this Shaw guy?"

"He was the one who discovered the Ring," replied Sarah. "You don't remember that?"

"What?"

"After you downloaded the 2.0, Beckman explained to us about the Ring, and how some guy named Daniel Shaw discovered them…"

"I was pretty out of it that night," Chuck remembered. "And extremely sore…"

Sarah laughed.

"Well, I'm sure this guy's pretty hardcore," she said. "Discovering a rogue operation isn't an easy feat…"

* * *

_**Paris, France**_

_**March 12, 2005**_

_A tall man with short, dark brown hair, heavy brows, and brown eyes, paced up and down a dark alleyway. Even a blind man would be able to tell that this man was anxious, nervous, possibly frightened, as he nervously paced about, breathing heavily around the alleyway. _

_The truth is, Daniel Shaw was scared. Fear was uncommon for a man like Shaw, a fifth year agent of the CIA; he was one of the best. Having never failed a mission, Shaw had the best track record of any CIA agent. But this…this was something unexpected…unknowable._

"_Daniel?" a voice called from behind him. Shaw quickly turned upon hearing his wife, Evelyn's, voice, and rushed over to her, embracing her in a hug as if it had been years since he had seen her._

_Six months ago, the Shaw's discovered suspicious activity from many of the people in the CIA. Slowly, their trust in the agency diminished, and they began their own operation to uncover what exactly was going on. They discovered that a handful of agents, analysts, and scientists were a part of a rogue group known as the Ring. Shortly after, Evelyn was recruited by them. And she joined, willingly, as a double agent, to find out exactly who they could trust in the CIA, and to find out what the Ring's motives were. It was quite possibly the most dangerous operation that Shaw had ever been a part of, for there was no one in the agency that could be trusted. No one in the agency knew what they were doing… _

"_Eve…" breathed Shaw. _

"_It's over, Daniel," said Evelyn, beaming up at her husband. "I've downloaded all of the Ring's intel…"_

"_Where is it?"_

"_I had to leave it in my office. There were too many operatives still in the building when I left. I locked it all in the lock box."_

"_Good," said Shaw. "Director Graham…is he involved with them?"_

"_No," she replied. "He's not. We need to report to him. After that, we can finally leave the agency…start a normal life."_

_Shaw beamed down at his wife, and pecked her lips with his own. "I can't wait," he smiled._

"_Me neither…we can finally start a family without the agency getting in the way…"_

"_We need to celebrate," said Shaw, nodding. "You go back to the hotel, and report to Graham, and I'll go grab a bottle of wine, and meet up with you."_

"_Sounds good," smiled Evelyn. "Daniel, I love you."_

"_I love you too, Eve."_

_Evelyn stood up on her toes, and pulled Shaw down into a passionate kiss. _

"_I'll see you soon," she smiled, as she turned to walk out of the alleyway. _

"_Eve!" Daniel called. "Aren't you forgetting something?"_

_As Evelyn turned, she saw Shaw holding up a silver charm bracelet. _

"_Daniel, where did you get that?"_

"_It was my grandmother's. I meant to give it to you earlier, but we were constantly out in the field," explained Shaw. "I also meant to fix the clasp; it comes loose sometimes, but…I just want you to have this."_

_Shaw clasped the bracelet around Evelyn's wrist, and smiled at her._

"_I'll see you in a bit, okay?" _

_**

* * *

**_

**Casa Walkertowski**

Dinner was quiet. Sarah knew that Chuck's family was most likely unhappy with her and Chuck for keeping them in the dark. But politely, they ate their food in silence, except for the occasional compliment regarding Sarah's lasagna.

"I feel that I should apologize," said Sarah, placing her fork down on her plate. "I'm sorry that we had to keep Chuck's spy life a secret…"

"I'm sorry too," Chuck quickly said, looking at Ellie. "Ellie, believe me, there was nothing I wanted more than to tell you about everything, but I had to protect you…"

"I know, Chuck," smiled Ellie. "It's just…it's hard to process. I mean, you've given up on your kung fu in the third grade, and then, years later, I find out that you've been kung fu'ing terrorists and rogues…that's a lot to process. No offense, but you've always been kind of…let's just say that you were always _way_ too nice to hit people."

Chuck laughed. "Yeah…"

"Why didn't you tell me that you uploaded the 2.0?" asked Mr. Bartowski. "I tried so hard to get the first one out of your head…"

"I know, Dad, and I'm sorry I never told you," sighed Chuck. "But you have to understand that it was my choice to upload the 2.0…I wanted to help people, Dad."

Mr. Bartowski remained silent, staring down at his empty plate, as if he were deep in thought.

"I know, son," smiled Mr. Bartowski. "You downloaded the 2.0 for the same reason I created the original; to help people. And for that, I'm very proud of you."

Sarah smiled over proudly at Chuck, and took his hand.

"So it's all over now?" asked Ellie. "You guys aren't spies anymore?"

"We're not spies, Ellie," replied Chuck, giving Sarah a pointed look.

"But…it's not over," said Sarah softly. Ellie looked confused.

"Ellie, Dad, Devon," began Chuck, taking a deep breath. "Sarah and I don't want to keep anymore secrets from you guys, but what we're about to tell you can't leave this room, do you understand?"

"Charles…" began Mr. Bartowski. "Sarah, you two have done more than enough for this country. You don't need to do anything more."

"Mr. Bartowski, I assure you that Chuck and I are no longer spies, but we're still going to be a part of the new Intersect project," said Sarah.

"You guys," Chuck said, looking around the members of his family. "I assure you that Sarah and I won't become spies again. We won't be going out on field missions or anything of the sort."

"Then what will you be doing?"

"I'm going to be the deputy director of the new Intersect project," said Sarah. "I'll be running the missions, and making sure everything goes according to plan. And Chuck is going to be the head analyst of the team. He'll also be training the new human Intersect. Basically, teaching him how to understand the flashes. We'll be working together in a base…no one will know of our pasts as spies, or any of the previous missions we've been on. We'll be safe."

"Are you two fighting against the Ring?" asked Mr. Bartowski, as Ellie just looked baffled, confused by all of this.

"How do you know about them?" asked Chuck.

"Charles, there really isn't much that gets past me," replied Mr. Bartowski. "They're extremely dangerous. No one is safe from them."

"Dad, we know all about the Ring," said Chuck. "We know what they're capable of, and _that's_ why we want to help take them down. After we do, Sarah and I both agreed that we're done with this business. We want to live normal lives. But how can we do that knowing that there's a group like the Ring out there, threatening the lives of nearly everyone?"

"You two are being naïve," sighed Mr. Bartowski. "Don't you understand? When you _do_ take the Ring down, there's going to another rogue group, and another, and another! It's a vicious, never ending circle. No matter what you do, there's _always_ going to be another threat. It's something that _nobody_ can control!"

Sarah and Chuck sat in silence, exchanging concerned looks. What Mr. Bartowski had said was the truth. _Just look at what happened with Fulcrum_, Sarah thought, _as soon as we took them down, the Ring appeared…_

"We already contacted Beckman," said Chuck. "We told her that we're out once we stop the Ring, and I promise you, we will be. I'm going to meet the new subject in a week for his download."

"This is really what the two of you want?" asked Ellie, finally speaking up. Sarah and Chuck both nodded in response. "Then promise us something."

"Okay," said Sarah, guessing what Ellie was going to say.

"Promise us that when you guys take the Ring down, that you will both quit the agency. No matter what happens."

"We promise," they both replied.

"Believe me, Ellie," said Sarah. "There's nothing more that I want than to live a normal life with your brother. With you guys."

Ellie and Devon smiled at Sarah, while Mr. Bartowski stared concernedly at his son.

"Be careful, Charles. You too, Sarah," he said. "If the two of you need any help, any tech support, just know that I'll be here."

"You're going to stay?" asked Ellie, happily.

"I'm not going anywhere," he replied. "I've been away from my children for too long. I want to stay…that is…if you guys want me to…"

"Of course we do," smiled Chuck.

**

* * *

**

**Paris, France**

**March 12, 2005**

BANG!

_It hadn't even been five minutes since he had walked away from Evelyn as the sound of the gunshot reached his ears. Suddenly, all of his spy senses kicking in, Shaw was on the alert._

"_Eve…" he muttered, hoping against hope that his worst fear was not about to unfold. _

_Shaw sprinted down the cobbled street in the direction of the gunshot. Within two minutes, he saw the series of events unfolding before his eyes: Policemen shuffling around, some yelling in French to call for an ambulance, bright blue lights flashing, and his beloved Evelyn, lying on the ground in pain._

"_Get off me!" screamed Shaw as the policemen tried to hold him back. He threw blind punches about, barely feeling his fists colliding against the men as they fell unconscious to the ground. Kneeling down, he gently lifted Evelyn's head. "It's going to be okay, Eve…" he reassured, as Evelyn coughed up blood. "Just hold on, okay? Help is on its way…"_

"_Dan…Daniel…" struggled Evelyn, "It….was them…"_

"_I know, sweetheart…I know. You're going to get through this, okay? And we'll get them back. Just hold on…please…"_

"_I…" she choked tearfully. "I…sorry…"_

"_There's nothing to be sorry for! You're going to be fine!" he whispered, as tears swelled in his eyes._

"_Don't cry, Daniel…"_

"_Eve…please, just hang on, honey. The ambulances are coming! I hear them!"_

"_Daniel…promise me we'll have a normal life?"_

"_I do! Eve, you're going to get through this. You're going to be okay, and we'll live a normal, happy life, okay? Just hold on, baby…"_

_Slowly, the life in Evelyn's eyes faded away._

"_God…please…don't do this, Eve! NO!" cried Shaw, as he felt heavy arms pulling him away from his wife. "Get the fuck off me!" he screamed, throwing two officers to the ground. "EVE!" _

**

* * *

**

**Casa Walkertowski, Chuck and Sarah's room**

After desert, Chuck had mentioned the new gaming computer that he had been building to his father, and ever since then, the two men examined the computer, toying around with it as if they were children. Devon received a page from the hospital, and had to leave, leaving Sarah and Ellie sitting in her and Chuck's bedroom, talking.

"So…" Ellie smiled. "I take it that you and Chuck haven't set a date yet?"

"Not yet," Sarah chuckled.

"Have you guys at least talked about whether you want a long or short engagement?"

"Well…no…but personally, I want our engagement to be short," admitted Sarah, feeling relieved that she can finally be a hundred percent honest with Ellie. "I mean, we've been together for so long, and we've been living together for two years. I don't really see the point in having a long engagement."

By the expression on Ellie's face, Sarah could tell that she was resisting the urge to yell out in joy, and crushing Sarah's ribs with the world's largest hug. To spare Ellie from spontaneously combusting, Sarah leaned over, and hugged Ellie tightly.

"I can't even begin to explain how happy I am!" squealed Ellie, while Sarah made a mental note that if the CIA ever had to torture someone for information, all they had to do was tell Ellie some exciting news, and she'd hug them so tightly that their ribs would crack. "When do you two have to go back to work?"

"Next Monday," replied Sarah, relieved when Ellie released her from the hug.

"How about you, me, and Chuck go out to look at some churches for your ceremony tomorrow? Wait, you guys probably want a day for yourselves…how about the day after tomorrow?" asked Ellie excitedly.

Sarah giggled.

"I'll talk to Chuck about it," she replied. "But that sounds great!"

"So when did you fall for Chuck?" asked Ellie.

"It's a long story," smiled Sarah as Ellie nodded in encouragement. "But I'll try to keep it short. Chuck was my mark, and I had asked him on a date, because I was told that he was an accomplice to the man who had sent him the Intersect. In the beginning, it was just a fake date. I remember I told Chuck a story about one of my exes, how he broke my heart, and that I came with a lot of baggage. Then Chuck just blurted out, 'well, I can be your very own baggage handler…' The way he said it was so…sincere, and I remember, for a split second that…I felt safe…"

Ellie smiled warmly as Sarah continued.

"In that split second," said Sarah, "I forgot that I was a spy, and it felt so nice. That's when I fell for him."

"I can't even imagine how hard it must be to be a spy," sighed Ellie. "But I'm glad you're not a spy anymore."

"Me too," agreed Sarah. "It was a rush, and sometimes, even fun, but…it was still hard."

* * *

_**Cedez Le Passage**_

_**Paris, France**_

_**March 12, 2005**_

_It was a brisk, clear night, as Sarah Walker walked along the street. Her hands were in her coat pockets, her right hand wrapped around the cold metal of her gun. Pulling photograph from out of her pocket, Sarah studied her mark once more: female, mid to late 20's, 5'6", 120 pounds, green eyes, and brunette hair. _

_Sarah knew that this day would come…she had heard about red tests. For the two years that Sarah had been a spy, her missions always consisted of stealing intelligence from terrorist groups. Never in her two years as a spy had she actually killed anyone. There were times when she had to fire her gun, yes, but that was mainly to clear a path for her escape route. Naively, she believed that she would never have to take her red test._

_However, in the back of her mind, she knew this day would come, and she always dreaded it. The CIA taught her to be cold…to be ruthless. They taught her to clear her mind from any sort of emotion. But no matter what they taught her, Sarah knew that whenever her red test was issued, nothing could prepare her for what she would have to do._

_When she turned into the street, Sarah saw her mark. The mark was there…just like Graham had told her. Noticing her mark briefly pausing, Sarah tightened her grip on her gun as she walked toward the mark. Just as she was about to pull her gun out, the mark had dropped something. It looked like a piece of jewelry…a bracelet. _

_Sarah couldn't just shoot her…not when she's down with her back turned. So slowing her steps slightly, Sarah continued walking. Then she saw it in a reflection on a car's side view mirror: the mark was reaching into her purse…_

_Without wasting time, the two women turned to face each other, but Sarah was quicker on the draw. In a split second, she pulled the trigger, and saw her mark falling back. Sarah's jaw dropped, shaky breaths of air escaping from her lips. As she took a step toward her mark, she heard sirens wailing. With no second thought, Sarah turned, and ran away as quickly as she could._

_She didn't know how far she had run. Her legs screamed in protest, but she ignored them. She needed to get away; away from it all. When it came to be too much for her legs to handle, Sarah fell forward, her palms tearing as they made contact with the unforgiving gravel, and sobbed into her bloody hands._

**

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**

**So there's that…**

**I hope you guys aren't too mad that Shaw's going to be the new Intersect, but I hope you keep reading! I've been planning this story for awhile, and it is heading somewhere…**

**Once again, thank you for reading, and let me know what you guys think! Thanks! **


	5. Someone Get This Guy a Personality

**Intersect Compound**

Chuck walked side by side next to Beckman down a long, bright corridor, their footsteps echoing down the hall. As they walked, Beckman handed him a small box.

"What's this?" he asked, taking the box from Beckman.

"That's your new phone," she replied. "That's also how you'll be gaining access to the Intersect."

"What, is there a password or something?"

Beckman stopped in front of a door.

"Open the box, Bartowski," she ordered impatiently.

Chuck tore off the tape, and opened the box. Inside, he saw what appeared to be a standard iPhone, the same model that was currently in his pocket. Also in the box was a small, black USB extension.

"That is a thumbprint scanner," Beckman explained. "After it analyzes your print, you need to bring the camera up to your eye. The camera serves as a retina scanner. That will unlock the door to the Intersect."

"Okay…" said Chuck, confused. "Won't it be a bit obvious to people if they saw me staring into my phone's camera, and the door magically opens?"

"Yes," said Beckman frankly. "Which is why, for today only, I'll be unlocking the doors with this." She held up a plastic key card. "After Shaw downloads the new Intersect, this card is useless, and no one is to enter the room. You will be the only person to have access to it."

"Oh," Chuck nodded.

"Yes, this is where Shaw is waiting," said Beckman, nodding to the door. "I'd like the two of you to meet before he downloads the Intersect. Remember, to him, you never downloaded the 2.0. Your cover is—"

"Charles Bartowski, Intersect supervisor," he finished. "Trainer of the original human Intersect, Charles Carmichael. Doesn't that sound a bit odd? I mean, two Charles' just happen to work together? That almost sounds like it could be a joke…I should come up with a punch line for it." Chuck rambled.

"Bartowski!" said Beckman forcefully, causing Chuck to snap out of his thoughts. "Charles is a common name."

Before Chuck could speak, Beckman pulled open the door, and indicated to Chuck to step into the room. To him, the room looked like any old conference room; around twenty chairs, and a large wooden table sat at the center of the room. A man, whom Chuck presumed was Daniel Shaw, stood on the alert.

"Agent Shaw," said Beckman. "This is the man who will be helping you comprehend your flashes until you get used to them. Meet Charles Bartowski."

Shaw held his hand out, and Chuck shook it.

"Mr. Bartowski," Shaw nodded.

"Call me, Chuck," smiled Chuck. "Pleasure to meet you, Agent Shaw."

"Likewise."

"Chuck," said Beckman. "The Intersect will be ready for download in approximately fifteen minutes. Why don't you fill Agent Shaw in about what's to be expected?"

"Yes, General," Chuck nodded, as Beckman left the room. He turned to Shaw. _Wow, this guy looks like he hasn't smiled in about forty years…_ Chuck thought to himself. "So, Agent Shaw…"

"Yes, sir?"

He couldn't help himself. It felt strange to be referred to as 'sir' by an agent, so Chuck laughed.

"Come on, man," Chuck said, still laughing. "There's no need to call me 'sir!' I already told you, just call me Chuck."

"Okay…_Chuck_…" said Shaw, in an almost robotic voice.

_Yikes, someone get this guy a personality_, thought Chuck, trying hard not to roll his eyes.

"Anyway," Chuck began. "So I'm pretty sure you know by now that I'm going to help you understand your flashes?"

"Yes," replied Shaw. "But I don't understand why I'd _need_ help."

"The flashes last for less than a millisecond," explained Chuck. "Do you remember that image encoding test that you took?"

Shaw nodded.

"Well, Agent Carmichael took the same test, and he was able to decode ninety-eight percent of the images, and at first, even _he_ had trouble comprehending the data," replied Chuck, remembering how he had misidentified La Ciudad over four years ago. "General Beckman, and the other scientists, believes that you will have even more trouble with it."

"I understand," said Shaw, as Chuck's phone beeped. He took his phone out of his pocket, and saw that he had a text message from Beckman: _Bring Shaw down to the basement for his download._

"Well, Agent Shaw," began Chuck, taking a deep breath. "Are you ready to become the new Intersect?"

"I am," Shaw smirked.

"Then let's do this," smiled Chuck, as he and Shaw stood, and headed out of the door.

**

* * *

**

**Cathedral**

Ever since Castle had been abandoned a week ago, the CIA/NSA constructed Cathedral, an old, eight story building, doubling as Cathedral Electronics. Exactly what the point of "Cathedral Electronics" was, Chuck had no idea. He liked to pretend that it was a small software company, and he highly doubted any civilians would decide to stroll in…unless they needed to use the bathroom.

Chuck gave a nod as he walked past the two security guards, and made his way to the elevator, pushing the button for level eight.

Level one was the lobby, nothing too exciting, except for a few marines, stationed behind a large desk, posing as security guards. Levels two and three are used for mission headquarters. Basically, it was a large, cathedral like room (hence the name, 'Cathedral.' Ten creative points for the government…), consisting of thirty top of the line computers that put Castle's old system to shame, and one large screen. Level four was used for sleeping quarters, since many of the analysts on Chuck and Sarah's team were from DC, and it would have been cheaper for the government to have their analysts sleep in a building that they owned. It may sound droll, but Chuck had stepped into a couple of the rooms, and they were quite nice. Each quarter had four separate bedrooms, with their own bathrooms, a living space with a large HD TV, and a nice kitchenette. Level five was used for recreation, and in the back of Chuck's mind, he knew he and Morgan would be spending a lot of time in there. They had pool tables, a mini bar, some arcade games, and a lot of other forms of entertainment. Level six was a fitness facility, complete with a dojo. Level seven was probably the most boring level. There was nothing there but cubicles for the analyst team. Level eight was where Chuck, Sarah, Casey, Morgan, Forrest, and Shaw's offices were located.

Once the elevator stopped at his floor, Chuck stepped off, and smiled over at the receptionist; a young, brunette, female college student by the name of Alex McHugh, recruited by the CIA. She's also Sarah's, as Chuck like to put it, apprentice, with Sarah training her on different forms of martial arts. When Sarah jokingly asked Casey, who generally dislikes training new cadets, if he wanted to give her the weapons rundown, Casey had agreed with no hesitation, which struck both Sarah and Chuck as odd.

"How's it going, Alex?" asked Chuck, flashing the young woman a grin.

"It's going all right, Mr. Bartowski," she replied, smiling.

"Is everyone treating you okay?"

"Of course they are," Alex said happily. "I'm learning to interpret Colonel Casey's grunts. This one," she lets out a low grunt, "means, 'Hello.' And then, this," another grunt, but slightly more prolonged, "means, 'My coffee wasn't black and bitter enough!'"

Chuck laughed.

"Is Sarah in her office?" he asked.

"Yes, she is. Would you like me to let her know you're here?"

"Nah, I think I'm just going to surprise her," Chuck replied, giving Alex a wave. "I'll talk to you later!"

"Later, Mr. B!"

"You should just call me Chuck…all this formal stuff makes me feel like I'm fifty…"

The young woman giggled. "Okay, Chuck. I'll see you later!"

"Alrighty."

Smiling, Chuck walked away from the receptionist desk, and headed toward his fiancée's office. Quietly, he opened the door, and smiled to himself, as he watched Sarah, dressed in a white blouse and a grey skirt, her blonde hair up in a bun, shuffling through files strewn across her desk.

"Did I ever tell you," said Chuck, as Sarah looked up in surprise, and smile when she noticed that Chuck was leaning against the doorframe. "That you look incredibly adorable in your business attire?"

"Not today, no," she replied, slipping out behind her desk to greet Chuck with a kiss.

"Well, you do," smiled Chuck, gently bumping his noise against Sarah's.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Bartowski," she grinned. "Ellie just called about five minutes ago."

"Oh yeah?"

"Indeed…she was wondering if Casey and Forrest were coming for Thanksgiving."

"What did you tell her?"

"I said, 'maybe.' I haven't asked them yet," replied Sarah, taking a seat behind her desk.

"Do you want me to ask?" asked Chuck, taking a seat across from Sarah. She shook her head.

"I'll ask later," shrugged Sarah, smiling guiltily.

"What?"

"Well…at first, I was considering not to invite Forrest," she said. "But I think we should seat her next to Morgan. You know how he gets at Thanksgiving…"

"Oh, you sure are the evil one, Ms. Wa—Reynolds," he laughed. "Sorry about the name mix up…"

"It's fine. So has Daniel Shaw downloaded the Intersect?"

"Yep. He did indeed," replied Chuck. "He passed out after the download, but Dr. Marvin checked up on his vitals, and he should be good to go in about an hour. I'm waiting for Beckman to contact me, so I can start his training when he gets up. I just came by to check up on you."

"Aw…you sure know how to make a girl feel special," Sarah teased.

"So…what are those?" asked Chuck, nodding to all the files on Sarah's desk.

"These are some practice missions for Shaw," she replied, handing Chuck a file. "That's a fairly simple mission. It's the typical infiltrate a fancy party as some rich trust fund baby, sneak off, and steal some bomb codes in a tricky vault. I figured that would be good for Shaw's first mission as the Intersect, seeing as he'd probably need to flash a couple of times."

"Hm…" said Chuck. "This mission sounds a lot like _my_ first mission as the 2.0. I take it that the vault has a bunch of…"

"Security lasers," finished Sarah.

"Well, aren't we feeling nostalgic?" he teased, as he remembered his first mission.

"Speaking of that mission, I'm thinking about bringing Carina into the team…"

"Hm…not that I don't miss Carina, but may I ask why you want to bring the DEA into this?"

"I just want to bring down the Ring as soon as possible. I think they're selling experimental drugs to third world countries so that they'd have some funding," said Sarah. "It doesn't hurt to bring in another agent. And Carina's one of the best."

"True…"

"What do you think? Yay or nay?"

"Go with your gut, sweetie," shrugged Chuck. "But I think it'll make sense to bring her in. She's pretty good…do you think you can keep her in line? We both know how she likes to improvise."

"Of course I can keep her in line, but she's deep undercover in Colombia. I'm pretty sure she won't be able to help until a couple of months," smiled Sarah, as Chuck's phone began to ring.

"It's Beckman," he told Sarah, as he put his phone to his ear. "Yes, General?"

"Agent Shaw is awake. Report to the Intersect compound," ordered Beckman.

"Yes, Gen…" Chuck heard a click from the other line. He turned to Sarah. "Wow…she could have just texted me."

Sarah giggled. "So you have to go?"

"Yeah," Chuck replied, snapping his fingers. "I really wanted to take you out to lunch…"

"Oh! I made you a sandwich this morning," Sarah said, turning on her chair to a mini fridge. She pulled out a sandwich bag, and handed it to Chuck. "Here you go, Champ."

"You're too good to me," smiled Chuck, leaning down, and kissing Sarah. "Thank you. I'll see you at home then."

"Can't wait!" called Sarah, as Chuck gave a final wave, and walked out of her office.

**

* * *

**

**Intersect Compound (Four Hours Later)**

Chuck held the flash card out in front of him facing Shaw. He had to admire Shaw for his determination. For the last three and a half hours, Shaw had been flashing non-stop, determined to interpret his flashes. Chuck knew, from experience, that Shaw would be waking with the most painful migraine of his life. But when he suggested to Shaw that they should take a break, Shaw refused. For the most part, he was beginning to learn how to comprehend the flashes.

Shaw's eyes crossed slightly, and his eyelids fluttered.

"Sandra Benedict," said Shaw. "Former MI6 operative, arrested for selling weapons on the black market in 2008."

"Aw!" groaned Chuck sympathetically. "_So_ close. Her name's Sascha Banecheck, former KGB operative!"

"Damn it," moaned Shaw, angrily, slamming his fist into the table.

"Whoa, buddy," said Chuck. "It's okay…you're actually making a lot of progress."

"The images flash way too fast…"

"I know," Chuck nodded. "When you feel the flash coming, clear your head. Try to take a deep breath."

"Okay," said Shaw, trying to relax himself. "Hit me again."

Chuck held out another flash card, and watched as Shaw flashed.

"Black Rock, a codename for Protocol Seven. A secret Fulcrum compound located in Barstow, California."

Smiling proudly, Chuck held his hand up.

"Good job, Shaw!" cried Chuck, as Shaw smiled and smacked his hand against Chuck's. "You got it, word for word!"

"Give me another one," said Shaw, cracking his neck.

"I think you deserve a break, man," said Chuck, concerned. "Your head must be killing you…"

"I want to get this down," said Shaw. "Give me another one."

Sighing, Chuck shuffled through the cards, and held one up in front of Shaw. Once again, Shaw's eyes crossed.

An hour later, it appeared that Shaw had gotten seventy percent of the intel. He wanted to continue, but Chuck insisted that they were done for the day. After all, his back was sore from the uncomfortable government chair that he had been sitting in for the past four to five hours.

"We can get through this tomorrow," promised Chuck. "Right now, I think you deserve a drink, man. Come on, my treat."

**

* * *

**

**City o' City Bar**

Chuck and Shaw sat in silence, sipping their drinks. Neither of them knew exactly what to say to each other, and to be frank, Shaw didn't give Chuck much too work with. He assumed that Shaw was one of those silent, but deadly, agents…maybe like a Jason Bourne.

"I understand that you and Director Reynolds are engaged?" asked Shaw, breaking the silence.

"Yeah…I proposed to her about a week and a half ago," nodded Chuck.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks…"

Once again, they had fallen into an uncomfortable silence. Just so he had an excuse for not talking, Chuck tipped his martini back, swallowing the cold, bitter liquid.

"So…obviously, they told you about the side effects of the Intersect, am I right?" asked Chuck, desperate to find another topic.

"Yes, I'm very aware that the Intersect could kill me," replied Shaw, downing his Jack and Coke.

"Can I ask why you downloaded it, then?"

Shaw didn't answer immediately. Instead, he held his arm out to call for the waitress. "Another Jack and Coke, please," said Shaw when the waitress arrived. "And another vodka martini for my friend here. Grey Goose. Thank you." When the waitress finished jotting down the order, and walked away, Shaw turned to Chuck. "How much do you know about me?"

"Um…I've read that you've been in the agency since 2002, and that you helped discover the Ring," replied Chuck, placing his empty martini glass down.

"My wife was the one that discovered them," said Shaw. "She was recruited by them, working undercover, of course, to find out more about them. They found out she was a double agent, and they shot her. I promised her that I'd take the Ring down before she died…"

"Oh…" said Chuck, not sure of what else he could say. Thankfully, the waitress came back with their drinks.

"Thanks," Shaw said up to the waitress, and turning to Chuck. "Her name was Evelyn…"

"The waitress?" asked Chuck, feeling his babbling mode activating. "Actually, I think her name was Cynthia…but it's okay. I'm pretty sure your head is killing you. Plus, it's pretty dark in here. I was barely able to read her name tag. Actually, now that I think about it, I think drinking may have been a bad idea, what with you having downloaded the Intersect…"

"No," said Shaw, chuckling. "My wife…her name was Evelyn. I met her at the Farm when we were both recruited. She was assigned to be my partner, and we got married about two and a half years later. You know what's funny, Chuck?"

Chuck shrugged.

"We were going to quit. At the time, the Ring was still new. With the intel we had on them, we could have taken them out," said Shaw. "But then they killed her, and well, we weren't able to extract the intel in time, and now, the Ring's still out there."

"You and Evelyn were going to quit after you took out the Ring?"

Shaw nodded. "We wanted a normal life…you know, the house, a regular job, kids…"

"Oy…" Chuck sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, man."

As Chuck took a sip of his martini, he selfishly felt grateful that he and Sarah had quit being agents when they had. In a way, the Intersect malfunctioning, and nearly deteriorating his brain had saved his life. Granted, they were still working for the agency, but, at the very least, they were safe from the field.

"I just hope," continued Shaw, tipping back his drink. "We can take out the Ring before I need to get the Intersect out of my head."

"Well, Shaw, I'm positive that we can finish them off in less than two years," said Chuck, knowing that Shaw had at least two years before the Intersect would start to damage his brain. "I'll tell you this, Director Reynolds and I will do everything in our power to help you take out the Ring. That's a promise, man." Chuck held up his glass. "To Eve," he said, as Shaw clinked his glass against Chuck's.

"To Eve," Shaw repeated, downing his glass.

"Every Thanksgiving, my sister, Ellie, always cooks way too much food," said Chuck. "So if you want, you're more than welcome to swing by on Thursday. Her turkey is excellent, and don't even get me started on her green-bean casserole…"

"Thanks, Chuck, but no. I don't want to impose. Plus, I want to try to figure out how to flash properly before our mission on Monday. I think I'm going to be in Cathedral all day…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if you change your mind, let me know," said Chuck, getting out of his seat. Feeling slightly tipsy after four martinis, he made a mental note to take a cab home. "I gotta get going. It's pretty late. I'll see you at Cathedral tomorrow, yeah?"

"All right," said Shaw, shaking Chuck's hand. "Thanks for the drinks."

"No problem. Take care of yourself, man." As Chuck began to put his coat on, a large, drunk man bumped into him. In turn, the drunken frat boy's girlfriend spilled her sex-on-the-beach down her shirt.

"Watch where you're going, Sticks!" the man slurred, glaring unfocusedly at Chuck.

"Damn it…you made me spill my drink, asshole!" the girlfriend cried.

"Oh, sorry!" cried Chuck, "I'll get you another one…I'm so sorry about your shirt!"

"Whoa! Trying to get in my girl's pants, dick-weed?" demanded the man angrily, shoving Chuck back onto the table.

"Sir, it was an accident," Shaw intervened, placing a hand on the drunk man's shoulder. "My friend already apologized, so why don't you and your girlfriend just walk away?"

The drunk man glared over at Shaw, pushing his hand away. Before Chuck could say anything, he saw Shaw's eyes fluttering. _Oh no…he's flashing!_

In a flash, Shaw swung his arm at the man with great force, and the man fell onto the floor. He quickly stood up, and advanced toward Shaw. Chuck quickly stepped between them.

"Shaw! Calm down, man!" he muttered to Shaw.

Chuck noticed that Shaw was now trembling.

"Chuck…get…out…of…the…way!" Shaw stammered, trying to fight off the flash.

"Shaw, just relax…think of something to calm you down! The flash will pass soon…"

All of a sudden, Shaw moved in one fluid motion, and aimed a bicycle kick at Chuck. To his surprise, Chuck stepped out of the way, grabbed Shaw's arm, and had him locked in a sleeper hold. _What the hell? How am I doing this?_

"I can't…control it!" Shaw groaned.

In a flash, Shaw threw his head back into Chuck's, causing Chuck to stumble back in pain. The next thing Chuck saw was Shaw's large fist coming toward his face. As if by instinct, Chuck swooped down, and swept his legs, causing Shaw to fall off his feet. Quickly, Chuck pinned the larger man down with his elbow.

"Concentrate!" yelled Chuck. "Think about something that will help you relax!"

Shaw's eyelids began to flutter again. _Oh, crap,_ Chuck thought to himself, _He's flashing again! _With great force, Chuck flew backwards, crashing into a table. Pain shot through his back, as a friendly patron helped him to his feet. Before Chuck could thank the patron, he saw Shaw rushing at him at an impossibly quick speed. In one fluid motion, Shaw stomped down on Chuck's toes, causing Chuck to double over in pain, and the next thing Chuck felt was Shaw's knee crashing into his face. And everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has sent reviews! You guys are awesome! And I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
**

**Reviews help me write faster! Hopefully, with the proper motivation, I can get the next chapter up by Wednesday! Thanks for reading!**


	6. What Did Bruce Lee Get at Burger King?

**A/N: Thanks again for the all of the reviews! I know this story's moving slowly, but it is going somewhere. It just may take some time. I do plan on this story being no more than 15 chapters, so…**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter though! Oh, just to let you know, Keysi is pronounced "Casey." You'll see why that's semi-important in a bit. **

**

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**Cathedral**

Sarah watched in concern as Devon flashed a pocket flashlight into Chuck's eyes. She guessed that Chuck's nose was broken, judging by the way it had swollen up to the size of an apple. Devon straightened up, and clapped Chuck on the back.

"You're going to be all right, bro," smiled Devon, reaching into his messenger bag, and pulling out a bottle of pills. "You just got some hardcore bruising on your face; you should put some ice on that. And you've got a broken nose, and four broken toes, but you'll be all right, big guy. Here," Devon tipped over the bottle, and handed Chuck some pain killers. "Take two of those, and get some sleep. You'll be right as rain."

"Chuck, wait!" cried Sarah, as Chuck popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed. "Damn it!"

"What's wrong?" asked Devon, looking concerned.

"He was drinking…"

"Whoa…" Devon turned to Chuck. "Hey, buddy…you gotta purge. We don't want you to turn into Keith Richards. Ellie will kill me."

"Dang it…" moaned Chuck, getting up, and limping away to the bathroom.

"Did Chuckles get in a bar fight, Sarah?" asked Devon, looking nervously over at Sarah. "He doesn't seem like the type to get into fights at bars…oh, God…he's still a spy, isn't he? He was out on a mission! Damn it! I don't want to lie to Ellie anymore!"

"Calm down, Devon," Sarah laughed. "Chuck's not a spy anymore."

"Then did he really get in a bar fight?" Devon asked with wide eyes.

"Sort of," said Sarah. "I can't tell you what happened, but be assured; Chuck's no longer a spy. It was an accident. That's all."

"You promise? Because if he is, then—"

"I promise. He was just taking a new coworker of ours out for a couple of drinks. That's all."

"What do I tell Ellie?"

"Tell her the truth," Sarah said simply, shrugging. "Chuck took a new coworker out for some drinks, and there was a minor scuffle."

"All right," nodded Devon. "Awesome…hey, make sure Chuck takes some of these in the morning," Devon said, handing Sarah the bottle of painkillers. "I'm going to get going. Do you and Chuckles need a ride home?"

"I've got my car," smiled Sarah. "Thanks for the offer and for coming out here. We'll see you and Ellie on Thursday, yeah?"

"Of course, can't wait!" said Devon, giving Sarah a wave as he walked out of Chuck's office. "Good night, future sis."

Chuckling, Sarah waved goodbye to Devon. As soon as Devon stepped into the elevator, she collapsed into Chuck's chair. It was her first week as the deputy director of the new Intersect team, and already her fiancé was injured. Not only that, but her new Intersect was wanted by the local authorities, and was currently MIA. According to the witnesses at the bar, Shaw had fled the scene after he knocked out his twenty-second victim. In turn, Sarah had to send Casey, Morgan, and Forrest to reacquire him. She started to wonder how much trouble she'd get in if she shot Shaw's toes…

She used to be a good liar, but how do you explain to a bunch of cops why one of her agents went berserk, and took out twenty-two civilian men at a local bar?

"Did Devon leave?" Chuck's voice sounded weak, as Sarah turned in her seat to face him, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Down here." Sarah looked to the ground to find Chuck crawling toward his desk.

"Chuck, what happened?" gasped Sarah, quickly running over to Chuck to help him on his feet.

"I was puking…try not to get too close to my face. I probably smell. I sneezed, and I hit my toes, my broken toes, on the wall, and they hurt real bad…" moaned Chuck, as Sarah plopped him into his chair. "And my nose hurts because I sneezed, and…" Chuck sniffed the air. "Something smells like peach cobbler…"

"How much did you have to drink tonight?"

Chuck looked up in thought. "Four vodka martinis…in about thirty to forty minutes. I think it's all hitting me at once…"

"You had four martinis and you were going to drive home?"

"Are you crazy? I was going to take a cab…" said Chuck, sounding offended before he started to sniff the air again. "Seriously…what smells like peach cobbler?"

"What is it with you Bartowski's and smelling something peachy when you're under the influence?" Sarah wondered aloud, remembering the time when Ellie was under truth serum. As Chuck was about to reply, the elevator dinged. On alert, Sarah turned to the elevator, grabbing a letter opener off of Chuck's desk, ready to throw it in case of an intruder. Old habits…

"Maybe the security guards are baking cobbler downstairs…" Chuck sighed happily. "I love peach cobbler…"

"Quiet, Chuck!" Sarah whispered, watching as the elevator door opened, revealing a bruised Casey and Forrest, dragging an unconscious Shaw into the reception area, with Morgan strutting happily behind them. Sarah lowered the letter opener, and hurried over to greet her team.

"Damn bastard nearly broke my arm," grunted Casey, throwing Shaw to the ground.

"What happened?" Sarah demanded, not noticing that Chuck was crawling toward them.

"He flashed on some serious parkour," said Forrest, wincing as she brought a hand tenderly up to her bruised cheek. "Ran for about a mile, and then we caught up with him."

"He flashed again, and went ape shit on Forrest and me," finished Casey, massaging his left arm. "Roundhouse kicked Forrest in the face, and he had me in an arm lock, nearly broke my arm, and Grimes, of all people, jumped him from behind, distracting him long enough for me to tranque his ass."

Sarah looked down at Shaw, and saw that he did get his ass tranqued. Leave it to Casey to state things so literally…

"You should have seen it, Sarah!" Morgan cried happily. "I was trailing them in the van, and I saw that Casey and Forrest were in trouble, so I climbed up to the top of the van, and I was like, 'Hey, Shaw! What did Bruce Lee get at Burger King? _WAH-PAW_!' and I jumped on him! It was _so_ bad ass!"

"HAHA!" laughed Chuck, causing everyone to look down at the ground to find Chuck sitting beside Sarah's leg. "'_Whoppa_!' That's _hilarious_, Morgan! Get it, Sarah? Like a Whopper…that burger from Burger King? And Bruce Lee always screams?"

"Yes, Chuck, I get it," snapped Sarah, flustered…and slightly offended. Sure, she didn't know too much about pop culture, but she sure as hell knew who Bruce Lee was…

"Was he drugged?" asked Forrest, staring at Chuck with genuine concern, as he made even more Bruce Lee/Burger King jokes (_"What did Bruce Lee get to drink? Wah-tah!"_).

"He just had a little too much to drink," replied Sarah. "And…Vicodin…it might still be in his system." Sarah knelt down beside Chuck, ignoring his giggling.

"Chuck, sweetie," said Sarah, chuckling despite herself. "You need to go purge again."

"_Aw_…do I have to?"

"You need to get all the alcohol and painkillers out of your system," Sarah said sweetly, brushing Chuck's hair aside.

"Oh, all right…" Chuck grumbled, crawling over Shaw to head to the restroom. "Shaw's flashing. He's going to wake up in about thirty seconds…"

"What do you mean?" asked Casey, pulling his tranque pistol from his waistband. Chuck shook his head, and sighed.

"The 3.0 has new features built in," said Chuck, rolling his eyes as if that was something everyone should have known about. "Shaw can flash on how to resist tranque darts, alcohol, and even the common heart stopping poisons. He can also flash on anyone he fights to find their weaknesses, and he probably saw that I have abnormally long toes and a very sensitive nose…" Chuck tenderly touched his nose, and winced, looking as though he were on the verge of tears. "He probably knows that I'm allergic to cat dander, pollen, bees…"

Sarah held up a hand, and shushed Chuck. She watched as Shaw stirred awake.

"Agent Shaw?" she said softly. "Daniel, don't…don't freak out. It's just your team. We won't hurt you…"

"What…?" said Shaw groggily. As he looked up, and saw Casey, with a tranque gun, he jumped back.

"Calm down, pretty boy," grunted Casey. "Like Reynolds said, it's just your team."

"What happened?"

As Sarah opened her mouth to reply, Chuck decided to intervene, "Dude, you flashed like a crazy! And you and I duked it out like this," Chuck made some kung fu gestures, "Then, you stomped on my toes, and kneed the crap out of my face!"

"Chuck! Bathroom! Purge! Now!" ordered Sarah viciously. Morgan, even Forrest, jumped back in surprise. Casey however, chuckled gleefully.

"Yes, ma'am," sighed Chuck, crawling his way to the restroom.

"Is he okay?" asked Shaw, looking genuinely concerned. "I didn't mean to…some guy was…and I flashed, and Chuck tried to stop me…"

"He has a couple of broken toes, and a broken nose," said Sarah, unable to contain her glare directed towards Shaw. She couldn't help it. No one hurts Chuck. Deep down, she wished that Shaw was Ring; then she'd have a legit excuse to kick his ass. "But he'll be fine."

"Good," Shaw sighed in relief. "He's a good fighter."

Sarah and Casey exchanged glances.

"What do you mean?" asked Casey, looking baffled.

"He's good," shrugged Shaw. "He kept up with me even when I flashed. I flashed again to take him out…"

"You had multiple flashes?" asked Morgan.

"It's part of the 3.0," said Sarah. "Didn't any of you read the documents?"

"We're all agents, Director," said Shaw. "We rarely read any documents that don't concern our next mission." Casey grunted in agreement.

"Chuck spent about thirty-six hours typing them up…" Sarah muttered to herself, feeling sorry for Chuck. She snapped back to Shaw. "Well, Agent Shaw, at the moment, local authorities are after you. I suggest you stay in Cathedral for the next forty-eight hours, and we'll tip the authorities off you then. We'll have them believe that you fled to Canada…"

"Yes, Director," said Shaw. "I apologize."

"Well, while I understand that you only just got your download today, I am disappointed," said Sarah. "You have been a spy for ten years; you should be able to have _some_ control over the Intersect, Shaw. You could have killed four members of your team tonight. Not only them, but you could have killed civilians as well! _You_ could have been killed tonight, and if that happened, then of all the resources and funding we received would have been for naught."

"Director, I am _so_ sorry…" mumbled Shaw. "It was my fault. I knew what to expect when I got the download…

Sarah waved off the apology, and turned to the other members of the team. "Well, agents, get a good night's rest. We're going to be training Shaw in the morning. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Director," they replied. Giving a satisfied nod, Sarah walked toward the bathroom to find Chuck. As she opened the door, she looked down to find Chuck crawling toward her, groaning.

"Get up, Chuck," she said, grabbing Chuck around the arm, and pulling him up. "It's just a couple of broken toes. You can walk."

"Yeah, but it hurts real bad," Chuck sighed. "How would you feel if you had abnormally long toes, and a size one thousand boot came crashing down on them?"

"You _do_ have really long toes…they make your feet look like hands," agreed Sarah, absentmindedly.

"Stop hurting my feelings! I had a really bad day…" Chuck pouted, his lower lip hanging out.

Smiling, Sarah gave Chuck a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

"Aw…I can't stay mad at you…" said Chuck, smiling crookedly and tapping Sarah on her nose. "Meep."

"C'mon, let's get you home, big boy." Wrapping one of Chuck's long arms around her, she helped him limp into the elevator; giving one final nod to her team as she pressed the button for the lobby.

Thankfully, the drive from Cathedral to their home wasn't too long. Sarah parked her Porsche by the curb, and quickly ran over to the passenger's side to help Chuck out. He had sobered up fairly well in the last thirty minutes. She helped him limp past the fountain, and quickly unlocked the door to their apartment. Once inside, she navigated them around the dark living room, down the hallway, and into their bedroom. Chuck plopped face first down onto their bed.

"I'm going to get you some aspirin, and water," said Sarah, exchanging her skirt for a pair shorts in the blink of an eye. "Try to stay awake, okay? I'll be right back."

Chuck held up his arm, and waved her away, mumbling, "Thanks, Sarah…"

In about thirty seconds, Sarah came back to the bedroom with two Advil and a tall glass of water. She saw that Chuck was struggling to undo the buttons of his shirt. Handing Chuck the pills and the cup, she finished unbuttoning his shirt.

"Sarah," he said, taking a deep gulp of water. "I still know kung fu…"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that…"

"Why do you think that is?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," said Sarah, pulling Chuck's arms out of his shirt. Chuck looked lost in thought, as several seconds passed by. All of a sudden, his jaw dropped.

"Dr. Marvin said some flashes can embed themselves in my brain," he said. "I remember my last mission, when I went to save Casey and Forrest; I was able to take out three guards with my tranque pistol without a flash…"

Leaning over to the side of the bed, Chuck pulled out a tranque pistol. Swiftly, he fired four shots, each dart landing on the four corners of his _Tron_ poster. Sarah stared in shock; even _she_ wouldn't have been able to make those shots. At least, not as quickly as Chuck had.

"…Dr. Marvin said that if the flashes did embed into your brain," gasped Sarah. "They can permanently damage it! Chuck! We have to get you to the hospital!"

"Sarah, I got kneed in the face tonight," Chuck said, sighing. "I'm pretty sure I have a minor concussion. Not only that, but I've been drinking, so even if I get a CAT scan tonight, Dr. Marvin is only going to misinterpret it for something more serious than it probably is! I've been feeling fine. We'll call Dr. Marvin tomorrow."

"Chuck, I—"

"Also," Chuck pressed on, holding a hand up to shush Sarah. "I've had the 2.0 in my head for years. Chances are it's just muscle memory. I'm going to be fine. I promise that nothing's going to happen to me."

Sarah brought her hands up to her lips, feeling deeply conflicted. What if Chuck's brain was deteriorating as they speak? What if something happens to her Chuck in the next two days? But he had a point; he most likely was concussed, and although the alcohol had left his system, his brain would still be dehydrated from the alcohol…

"Fine," said Sarah. "But we're going to see Dr. Marvin tomorrow, and we're going to tell him what happened, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," smiled Chuck.

* * *

**Cathedral**

They say public speaking is everyone's worst fear. Sarah has no idea how people can grow up to become stage actors, musicians, politicians, or any other occupations that require someone to stand in front of a large crowd. Even standing in front of thirty people was freaking her out.

Her team of analysts had arrived from DC, and Sarah was to brief all of them on what's to be expected. Hours before, she had pumped herself up by deciding that she was going to go with the strict, bad ass, few words approach. But now, as she stood in front of them, their tired expressions, looking wearily up at Sarah as she stood behind the podium, she felt as though she would go into cardiac arrest.

She took a deep breath, and felt Chuck beside her, giving her shoulder a comfortable squeeze.

"In this room, we have some of the world's best computer hackers, and the best satellite surveillance experts," Sarah said into the microphone. "I know the holidays are right around the corner, and I know you all miss your family and friends. Just know that the CIA and NSA didn't do this to you, the Ring did! Use that as motivation so we can finish our jobs as fast as humanly possible!

"The sooner we take out the Ring, the sooner you will all be with your friends and family! Our mission is simple, people; we're going to provide all the support we can to our agents out in the field! We _will_ take the Ring down, and make our country safe again! Your government thanks you. _I_ thank you! The agents we'll be supporting thank you! So let's get this done, people!"

"Not bad, Reynolds," muttered Casey, as he, Sarah, Chuck, Forrest, Morgan, and Shaw made their way out of Cathedral Mission HQ.

"Thanks, Casey," she smiled. "Okay, so Casey and Forrest, you guys take Shaw to the dojo, and start his flash training. Morgan, get the analysts comfortable."

"Of course," Morgan nodded, jogging away as the rest of the team stepped into the elevator.

"Chuck, give Shaw the general run down on his flashes," said Sarah, smiling slightly.

"You just love rubbing in the fact that you have me whipped, don't you?" Chuck mumbled, flashing Sarah a crooked smile.

"Why yes I do," she replied, giving him a mischievous smile of her own.

"Okay, then," said Chuck, clapping his hands together, and turning to Shaw. "Let's head on over to the dojo, and I'll give you the general rundown. Sarah, I'll see you in about fifteen minutes, yeah?"

"Yep," nodded Sarah. "Don't be late."

"I'll do what I want!" Chuck joked, quickly limping out of the elevator before Sarah could smack his arm. "Let's go, gang!"

"It's about time the kid finally grew a back bone. Too bad he ran away like a little girl," Casey grunted, stepping off the elevator along with Forrest and Shaw. Before the door closed, Sarah heard Casey saying to Shaw. "Intersect or not, I'm still going to kick your ass for almost breaking my arm, CIA."

As the elevator doors closed, Sarah chuckled to herself, feeling her knees slightly buckle as the elevator lifted up to the eighth floor. When the doors opened again, she made her way to her office, and stopped when she saw Alex in the conference room with textbooks strewn all across the table.

"Hey, Alex," said Sarah, stepping into the conference room. "I see your professors gave you a lot to do over your break."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Director!" cried Alex, hurriedly shutting the textbooks around her. "I thought you would be down in mission HQ…"

"It's fine," Sarah smiled, looking down at one of Alex's books. "Criminal Psych, eh?"

"Yes, ma'am."

'_Ma'am?' God, that makes me feel old_, thought Sarah.

"You know you can call me Sarah, don't you?"

"Oh, okay," smiled Alex. "Again, I'm sorry about this. My roommate and her boyfriend broke up, and she was crying all night. Typical lady feelings junk…I couldn't concentrate on my homework…"

"It's fine," Sarah repeated. "So before you were recruited, you wanted to be a criminal psychologist?"

"Oh, no…just a normal psychologist," Alex replied. "But this criminal psych class is pretty interesting stuff."

"I could imagine," said Sarah, nodding in agreement. She heard the elevator dinging from behind her. Turning in her seat, she saw Chuck limping out. "Well, I gotta take Chuck to see a doctor, so I should get going. Oh, by the way, I'm sorry that I haven't been helping you train. Things are hectic around here at the moment."

"Oh, that's fine," said the younger woman, waving off the apology. "Actually, Colonel Casey has been teaching me a new fighting style called The Keysi Fighting Method."

"Casey has his own fighting method?" asked Sarah, chuckling. Alex began to giggle as well.

"Oh, no," she said, still giggling. "It's pronounced 'Casey,' but it's spelled like 'key-see.'"

"Are you ladies talking about KFM?" asked Chuck, limping into the conference room. "Fun fact, Christian Bale learned KFM for the Batman movies. It's pretty cool…great for close quarter combat."

Sarah and Alex stared up at Chuck with dumbfounded expressions.

"What? Just because I work for the CIA doesn't mean that I don't have time to read IMDB trivia," shrugged Chuck, leaning down to kiss the top of Sarah's head. "So are you ready to go?"

"Yep," said Sarah, taking a step away from the table. "So, Alex, I should be back within an hour and a half; if you want, we can start your training. Do you have your gear?"

"Yes," Alex smiled. "Take it easy, you two."

"You too," Sarah and Chuck said in unison. Sarah took Chuck's hand, and led the way back to the elevator.

"So Casey's _actually _training Alex?" asked Chuck, pushing the button for the lobby.

"It appears that way," replied Sarah.

"That's odd…"

"What is?"

"Well, seeing as how he hated training Morgan—"

"Can you _really_ blame him for not wanting to train Morgan?" she smiled.

"I guess not. But even when I told him that he and Forrest had to be Shaw's sparring partners, he didn't seem too happy about it. Also, no one asked him to train Alex."

"That's true," said Sarah thoughtfully. "You don't think he's into her, do you?"

"Oh, that's just gross, Sarah! The man's old enough to be her father," he laughed, as Sarah giggled at the thought. "I'm pretty sure he and Forrest have a little thing going on."

Laughing, the couple stepped off the elevator, walked through the lobby. When they reached the door, Chuck held it open for Sarah, and they made their way to Sarah's Porsche.

**

* * *

**

**Dr. Marvin's Office**

She sat on the uncomfortable, plastic chair beside Chuck, who was sitting up on the examination table. He had just taken a CAT scan, and they both sat, patiently waiting for Dr. Marvin's report. Sarah was fairly positive that nothing would be wrong with Chuck. But there was still that nagging voice in the back of her head that told her that there could be something wrong with him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, your leg is twitching like crazy," he replied, smiling. "That means you're either nervous, or you have a nasty drug habit that you never told me about."

"Quiet, you," she giggled, gently smacking his thigh. Just then, Dr. Marvin walked in.

"Your scans didn't show anything abnormal," said the doctor. "However, this situation _is_ very curious…you've never had any prior training before you downloaded the 2.0, correct?"

Chuck nodded. "Well, I took karate for about six months in the third grade, but it never really stuck…"

"Interesting…perhaps your theory about muscle memory is correct," said Dr. Marvin, looking thoughtful. "You must have had plenty of flashes in the last two years, but to be safe, I recommend that you come into my office for monthly check ups."

"Understood, doctor," said Chuck, looking hopeful. "Is that all?"

"That's all for now," the doctor replied. "We'll schedule another appointment for next month."

"Thanks!" cried Chuck, leaping off the table, and wincing. He must have forgotten about his broken toe. "Ow…"

"Dummy…" Sarah muttered in a teasing tone. He ignored her, and turned to Dr. Marvin.

"Thanks again, Doc."

"No problem, Mr. Bartowski. Ms. Reynolds. You two have a good day."

"You too, doctor" smiled Sarah, giving the doctor a wave. She followed Chuck out of the door.

"Told you I'd be fine," said Chuck smugly.

"Yeah, well…it's better safe than sorry," mumbled Sarah, bumping her shoulder softly against Chuck. "Let's go get something to eat. I'm starving!"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! If you liked it, leave a review. If you hated it, leave a review. The next chapter should be up soon, and it'll be a doozy! Chuck spars Shaw, Shaw's first mission, and a little something special for Chuck and Sarah.**


	7. The Rabbit's Foot

**A/N: Remember how in the last chapter I said that I was going to write about Shaw's first mission in **_**this**_** chapter? Well, as I got down to writing it, I realized that a **_**lot**_** of stuff goes down in this chapter. So…yeah. No mission in this chapter, but like I said, a lot of stuff happens. This is a brick laying chapter, setting up for the events of the story...also, this chapter's different, as it changes POV's (in order: Chuck's, Morgan's, Sarah's, Chuck's, Sarah's, Shaw's) after each line break. It also moves kind of fast, but I hope it doesn't seem too rushed. Anyway, I hope you guys like the chapter!  
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Thanksgiving at the Woodcomb/Bartowski's this year was quite memorable. Seating Forrest next to Morgan may have been one of Sarah's best ideas ever—albeit cruel. Chuck remembered Forrest staring down at Morgan in disgust as pieces of turkey, stuffing, corn, potatoes, and marshmallows clung onto Morgan's beard. To everyone else, except for Forrest (maybe Casey, but it was hard to tell with him), it was a hilarious sight. Another reason why Thanksgiving was special was because it had been Chuck and Ellie's first Thanksgiving with their father ever since their mother had left.

For the first time since he had finally gotten together with Sarah, Chuck felt complete. He had his father, his family, his friends, and his Sarah. Life couldn't get any better…

To boost morale for the team of analysts, Chuck and Sarah decided to order a nice Thanksgiving meal for them. Granted, today was Sunday, and Thanksgiving was three days ago…but it was the thought that counted. Chuck and Sarah walked between tables in the mess hall, greeted the analysts, and tried to remember their names. For the most part, the analysts were happy. Some even asked Chuck and Sarah to join them, but they declined. They were pretty turkey'ed out from Ellie's Thanksgiving dinner.

From the corner of his eye, Chuck saw Shaw shuffling the food around his plate.

"Hey," he said to Sarah. "I'm going to go talk to Shaw. I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay," said Sarah, giving his hand a squeeze. Zigzagging between tables, he reached Shaw's, and sat across from him.

"Hey, man," smiled Chuck, staring down at Shaw's nearly full plate. "Is the turkey too dry?"

"Oh, no…the turkey's fine," said Shaw absentmindedly, piling his mashed potatoes into a tower. "This is actually the closest thing I've had to a home cooked meal in awhile. Since Eve, actually…"

If it were any other situation, Chuck was sure that he'd be babbling about one thing or another. But whenever Shaw had brought up his dead wife, Chuck never knew what to say. It was like Evelyn Shaw was Chuck's babbling/rambling Kryptonite. So he sat quietly, and nodded sincerely.

"You're not eating?" asked Shaw.

"To be honest, I'm pretty Turkey'ed out," replied Chuck, smiling. "My sister, Ellie, pretty much cooked a hundred pound turkey, and Sarah and I have been eating nothing but turkey sandwiches for the last three days."

Not looking up from his mashed potato tower, Shaw smiled. "I guess I'd be pretty turkey'ed out as well."

"Yeah…so it's your first mission as the Intersect tomorrow," said Chuck. "How are you feeling?"

"It would be nice to control my flashes better, to be honest."

"Well, you're doing pretty good so far, so…just wait. You'll get it down sooner or later," Chuck encouraged.

"To be honest, I wish I could just get it down now," said Shaw, sighing, and finally looking up from his mashed potato tower. "I want to be out in the field. I _want_ to bring down the Ring…"

"We all do," said Chuck, looking concerned.

"Not as much as I do," said Shaw, sounding slightly childish. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I have the Intersect, but…I thought I'd be doing more. I mean, the mission tomorrow? It's a simple in and out that any trainee agent would be able to pull off. It probably doesn't even involve the Ring…"

"It does," Chuck promised. "You're not just going to be stealing a briefcase…well, you are, but it's more than that."

"What is it then?"

"It's a rabbit's foot."

"Excuse me?"

"The Ring purchased bunker busting missiles from Treadstone a few weeks ago," explained Chuck. "_But_ they never got the rabbit's foot. It's pretty much a CPU remote that helps them target anything. Without it, their missiles are useless."

"Why wasn't I told of this?"

"I didn't want to stress you out," replied Chuck. "I thought it would be better if you didn't know, and then after the mission, your confidence would have been boosted. The Intersect doesn't work very well when the subject's under stress."

"I wouldn't have been stressed out…"

"Yeah? Well…intel tells us that there are going to be Ring agents attending the party as well. Probably to get the rabbit's foot. You have to retrieve it before they do."

"Hm…" said Shaw, bringing a hand up to his chin. "Well, it looks like I have some training to do." He smiled up at Chuck. "Care to help?"

Chuck didn't answer immediately. Instead, he gazed around the room, at the team of analysts who were all away from their friends and families for the sole purpose of helping to put a stop to the Ring. Scanning around the room of melancholy faces, his eyes stopped when they landed on Sarah. She was smiling as she walked around the room, stopping occasionally to talk to an analyst.

As he watched her, he hoped for a couple of things: this time next year, he hoped that all of these people would be able to spend an actual Thanksgiving with their loved ones. He and Sarah wouldn't have to worry about their next mission that they'd have to run. Instead, they'd just be enjoying each other and the company of their friends and family; maybe making plans to go Christmas tree shopping the day after Thanksgiving.

The only way that would be possible is if the Ring no longer existed. The only way they'd cease to exist is if Shaw can learn to control his flashes. The only way Shaw can learn is if Chuck taught him.

"You know what?" said Chuck, smiling. "Meet me in the dojo in five minutes. I gotta tell Sarah that I'm going to be helping you train."

**

* * *

**

Morgan, who had been in the dojo playing with the nunchucks before Chuck and Shaw arrived, watched as the two tall men circled each other, wearing protective padding around their bodies. To Morgan, this was like when Morpheus and Neo sparred right after Neo had learned Kung Fu. This was something epic. It was like…the battle of the Intersects! Okay, so Chuck didn't have the Intersect anymore, but he still has his kung fu skills…

"We need to lay some ground rules," said Chuck. He pointed to his heavily padded left foot. "No foot stomping. It's cheap, and it hurts. No punches or kicks to the face; sometimes it's cheap, but for the most part, it hurts."

Shaw chuckled. "Anything else?"

"Um…" said Chuck, thinking. "Nope, that's about it."

"Okay, then."

"Did you flash yet?" asked Chuck, cracking his neck, and stretching his arms. Shaw's eyelids began to flutter, and he responded with a smirk. "Okay, let's do this."

As Shaw charged towards him, Chuck ducked under the large boot aimed for his neck, and swiftly landed a punch to Shaw's rib.

"OH! In your face, Shaw! Point for Bartowski!" Morgan cried gleefully, pumping his fists up in the air. Shaw just let out a soft chuckle, and shook his head as if he were trying to concentrate.

"Try flashing again," said Chuck. "When you feel it, just embrace it. You're fighting it, and that's why your flashes never stick. Deep breath, and just embrace the flash, Shaw."

Shaw nodded, and took a deep breath. Morgan had seen Shaw flash a couple of times, and to him, Shaw always looked a little goofy. But this flash was different. This flash made Shaw's eyes cross (ever so creepily, in Morgan's opinion), and his whole body tense up.

"Good," smiled Chuck. "Again!"

And they were off like a flash of lightning. Morgan watched as Chuck and Shaw were nothing more than black blurs. In the entirety of his life, Morgan had never seen any two people move so quickly. He watched, amazed, as Chuck blocked Shaw's 'faster than a speeding bullet' kicks, and as Chuck tried to land some of his kicks against Shaw. If this had nothing to do with the CIA, Morgan would totally videotape this on his iPhone, and post it on YouTube.

Minutes passed, and neither Chuck nor Shaw had landed any hits. Eventually, Chuck finally grabbed one of Shaw's outstretched legs, and swept his other foot out from under him.

"You should be able to flash again," said Chuck, breathing heavily as he helped Shaw to his feet. "The Intersect reads your opponents' moves, and enables you to flash to another fighting style to take them out easier."

"I don't know how," breathed Shaw, taking a drink of water. After he took his drink, he tossed the bottle to Chuck.

"Like I said, you gotta concentrate, and try to relax," replied Chuck, catching the bottle. "I know it's hard, but once you get it down, you'll be unstoppable. You'll be able to pinpoint your opponents' weaknesses, and attack them. Either that or you'll be able to overpower them. The 3.0 has some amazing stuff! It makes the 2.0 practically an antique!"

"Okay, enough with the chit-chat, gents! Chuck's in the lead: 2-0. Shaw, you got some catching up to do!" Morgan cried excitedly, wanting to see another kick ass display of Kung Fu.

"Ready when you are, Chuck…" said Shaw.

"Did you flash yet?"

"No. I want to try something…just go with it," Shaw replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, come on."

Morgan couldn't be sure of what happened next. In a few seconds, Shaw must have landed three or four kicks on Chuck's midriff and then Chuck was on the ground.

"What the hell happened?" cried Morgan, rushing toward his best friend who was strewn across the floor with his eyes wide open, gasping for air.

"Whoa…" breathed Shaw, looking shocked. "I simultaneously flashed on a bunch of different forms of martial arts…Tae-kwon-do, Karate, Krav-Maga, Hapkido…"

Coughing loudly, Chuck struggled to his feet as Morgan helped him up.

"Ow…" he groaned, tearing off the Kevlar padding on his torso. "I think you got the flashes down. Normally, I'd suggest we go at it again, but…ow…"

"You okay, big guy?" asked Morgan, watching as Chuck massaged his ribs.

"I think so…you didn't happen to hear any cracking noises, did you?"

"I think you're going to be fine," said Morgan. "Walk it out, buddy. Walk it out…"

"Yeah, sounds like a plan," Chuck moaned, turning to Shaw. "Uh…good job, I guess."

"Yeah, thanks," said Shaw. "I meant to pull some of those kicks, but…"

"No, that's cool. Man, if I weren't padded by Kevlar, then you probably would have killed me," Chuck said, scratching the scar on his neck. Morgan turned to Shaw to see his eyelids fluttering again.

"Shaw, did you flash?" Morgan asked. Shaw stared at Morgan blankly, and then back up at Chuck. Morgan could have sworn that for a brief second, Shaw had a look of realization on his face.

"No," said Shaw finally, "I just got a dizzy for a second. I need to get these pads off. Actually, I'm going to take a shower! Chuck, thanks for being my sparring partner today. You're really good, man. I'll see you guys tomorrow before the mission, yeah?"

"Yeah, take it easy," said Chuck, waving off Shaw as he still massaged his ribs. Morgan watched as Shaw walked out of the dojo, and turned to Chuck.

"Hey, Chuck, I think Shaw flashed on you."

"What are you talking about, Morgan?" Chuck plopped back down on the ground.

"I saw him doing that creepy eyelid fluttering thing!" said Morgan, sitting down next to his friend. "He flashed on you, dude!"

"Morgan, I personally made sure that everything about me, Sarah, and the old Intersect team was removed from the 3.0," said Chuck, still breathing heavily. "There's no way Shaw could have flashed on me."

"Are you sure?"

"_Yes_, Morgan," groaned Chuck. "Can you do me a favor, little buddy?"

"Yeah, anything, of course!"

"Can you drive me back to my apartment, please?

"Roger that!" Morgan cried eagerly, hopping up to his feet, "Dude! I _wish_ I could have recorded that fight! It was amazing!"

**

* * *

**

Sarah parked her car in the hospital parking lot, and made her way toward the building. As she walked up to the entrance, she saw a brunette woman running toward her with a wide smile. She was constantly amazed that she had known Ellie for four years, and Ellie _always_ had something to be excited or stressed about.

"Hey, Ellie!" Sarah greeted, as Ellie stepped outside.

"It's about time you came!" cried Ellie, grabbing onto both of Sarah's hands, and squeezing them. "I waited for like…_three_ hours!"

"You called me about twenty minutes ago…" Sarah mumbled. "So what's up?"

"Okay, I know that you told me that you and Chuck were planning on just going to go to a courthouse to get married, but…Okay, so…I was bored, so I was looking at some wedding sites on the internet, and I found this really, _really_ nice chapel," said Ellie, dragging Sarah into the hospital. "Before you say no, just take one look at their website! If you don't like it, then you can just do the courthouse thing…"

Although Sarah wanted to just decline Ellie's offer, she just couldn't bring herself to wipe the excited smile off of Ellie's face. Sighing, she let the older woman drag her into her office.

"Okay, sit, sit!" said Ellie excitedly, gesturing to a chair across from her desk. Chuckling, Sarah took a seat across from Ellie, who still wore the excited grin on her face. It was actually borderline psychotic, but Sarah wasn't going to say anything. Ellie placed her hand on top of her computer monitor. "Are you ready…?" she asked.

"Sure."

Bouncing in her chair, Ellie turned the computer monitor so that it faced Sarah. Having a kind rejection prepared, it immediately subsided when she saw the small, modest, white chapel beside the ocean shore. She felt her mouth curve into an unwilling smile, and let out a breath. In her mind's eye, she saw herself and Chuck standing up at the altar, their grins wide, their closest friends sitting in the pews…

"Wow…" breathed Sarah.

"I know, right?" Ellie excitedly exclaimed. "I mean, I was just browsing around, and I saw this website, and I thought to myself, 'this place is _perfect_ for Sarah and Chuck!'"

She chuckled, "Ellie, I don't know…"

"Please just talk to Chuck about it," begged Ellie. "I know you two would just prefer the whole court thing…" Sarah saw a slight look of disgust on the brunette's face, and smiled. "But come on! You know you guys deserve more than that! And you don't even have to invite that many people…it'll just be a small ceremony, and I'm pretty sure you'll have a lot of fun."

She smiled as she watched Ellie continue to babble, although she was slightly surprised. Never did she ever think that she would even _consider_ a traditional marriage, but then again, never did she think that she would ever truly fall in love. Hell, she never even believed in love before she met Chuck…

"Ellie," she said loudly, putting a stop to Ellie's babbling. "I'll talk to Chuck about it. I think it sounds…_great_! Will you come with me to check it out?"

"What…?" asked Ellie, looking shocked. She quickly shook her head. "Oh, of course! Yeah, I just need to find someone to take over my shift, but it's a slow day…"

"Thank you," smiled Sarah, grabbing her purse.

**

* * *

**

Staring out of the passenger window, Chuck looked over to the west, watching the sunset.

"Hey, Chuck…can I ask you a question?" asked Morgan, not taking his eyes off of the road.

"Sure, what's up, little buddy?" he asked.

"So…I just turned thirty, right?"

"Right…"

"Let's say, hypothetically, of course, that I was sort of into a twenty-two year old woman. She's very mature, and cute, and _really_ nice. Um…but there's still the fact that she's twenty-two years old…"

"Okay…" said Chuck, waiting for Morgan to continue.

"What I want to ask is, if I asked her out, would that make me a sleazebag?" Morgan spat out quickly, still not taking his eyes off the road. Chuck noticed that the little guy's hands tightened on the steering wheel.

"Well, there's the douche-bag rule," replied Chuck. "You know, you take your age, divide it by two, and add seven. In the douche-bag world, it's okay."

He tried not to laugh as Morgan twisted his face into a look of pure concentration.

"So it would be okay for me to date…a…"

"Morgan, what's thirty divided by two?"

"….let's see…carry the six…"

"Fif…"

"Fifteen!" Morgan cried triumphantly.

"Good," laughed Chuck. "What's fifteen plus seven?"

"So I'm carrying the nine…and…I wish I had some paper!"

"Twenty…"

"Twenty-one!"

"Close, twenty-two."

"Yeah, that's what I meant to say," shrugged Morgan. "But like you said, that's the douche-bag rule. I know I'm a lot of things…short, awkward, but I don't think I'm a douche-bag. Wait! Are you saying that I'm a douche-bag? C'mon, man! I thought we were friends!"

"I'm not saying you're a douche-bag," he reassured. "I don't know, Morgan…twenty-two? That's kind of young, man…"

"Yeah, but Chuck…I'm immature! That should count for something, right?"

"Wait…who do you know that's twenty-two years old…?" Chuck wondered. "Dude, you're into Alex?"

Morgan sighed. "I can't lie to you…" he said. "Yeah, I'm sort of into Alex. We went out for drinks last night, you know, I just asked her out as friends, because I wanted to be her friend. Anyway, so we started talking, and she was cracking all these jokes, and she was funny! Not only that, but she's _really_ into _Star Wars_. Like the old movies, not the new ones. You know how rare it is to meet a chick these days who's into the old _Star Wars_ movies? It's like finding a four leaf clover…"

Chuck smiled kindly. "Dude, yeah, if you date her, a lot of people will probably think you're some sleazy douche, but you know what? If you like her and she likes, then it doesn't matter what people think. If it makes you feel any better, I'd be happy for you, buddy…"

"Yeah?"

"Yep…dude, you're going to miss the turn," said Chuck, pointing out the window.

"Oops!" Morgan, quickly turned the wheel, and turned into their street. He eased on the brakes, and parked by the sidewalk, and shut off the engine. Handing the keys back to Chuck, Morgan let out a sigh. "You know what? I'm going to ask her out again…"

"Good for you, little guy," laughed Chuck, clapping his friend on the back. He stepped out of the car.

"Yeah, I mean, I know your feelings are going to be hurt, but I talked to Casey about it," said Morgan, walking side by side next to Chuck.

"Casey actually listened to your 'lady feelings?'" asked Chuck, using air quotes.

"Well, seeing as Casey and I are being forced to live together…" sighed Morgan, giving Chuck a dirty look. It appeared that he never forgave Chuck for asking him to move out. But was it really Chuck's fault that he wanted to have more alone time with Sarah? No offense to Morgan, but the little guy was making it really difficult for him to have some Sarah time. "Anyway," Morgan said, shaking his head, "The past is the past, and I forgive you for kicking me out."

"Morgan, I didn't kick you out…"

"Oh, you did, but that's cool now," Morgan said, muttering something about 'bros before hoes.' "Anyway, so I came home late last night, and I was slightly tipsy, so I forgot to disarm the apartment security."

Chuck nodded.

"I woke Casey up, he asked me where I was, and I told him I was with Alex. Well…Casey was _pissed_. He called me a dirty, bearded troll…you know, the whole spiel. Then he told me I was too old to date Alex, and that I shouldn't. So I decided to ask you about her."

"Well…do what you want to do, little guy," said Chuck, shrugging and looking toward his apartment. He really had to use the little boys' room. "Listen, buddy, we'll talk after the mission tomorrow, but like I said, if you really like her, it doesn't matter what other people think."

"Yeah, you're right," Morgan agreed. "Okay, well, see you tomorrow! Unless…do you think I could maybe come over and play some games? Casey shot my Xbox…"

"Yeah…um…I was actually thinking about taking Sarah out tonight," said Chuck, feeling guilty for his friend. "I'm sorry, but we haven't gone out since the laser tag date…"

"Say no more, big guy. I'll just see you tomorrow."

"Just come over tomorrow, then," said Chuck, watching as Morgan stepped toward Casey's apartment.

"Okay. 'Night, Chuck!" called Morgan, as he began unlocking the door. "_Call of Duty_ tomorrow?

"Sounds good, man. 'Night!"

He watched as the little guy gave a wave, and he went into his apartment.

After he tossed his keys into a small bowl, he loosened his tie, and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower.

**

* * *

**

She heard the front door slamming, and the keys hitting the porcelain bowl. Immediately, her heart began pounding in her chest. She felt like a hypocrite.

"_So I'm sure Ellie would be more than willing to help us out," he had said._

"_Help us out with what?"_

"_You know…the wedding stuff…picking out a location, your dress, caterers…"_

"_Chuck," she sighed. "Um…I never really pictured us having a traditional marriage…don't get me wrong, I definitely pictured us getting married, but…more like a courthouse type wedding."_

"_Oh…"_

"_It's just, what's the point of all that fancy crap? The whole point of us getting married is so that we're committed to each other for life, and to start a family…I just think…are you okay?"_

_The look on her fiancé's face betrayed him as he said, "Yeah. You're right…"_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Well, to be honest, I thought it would be nice to have a traditional ceremony…" he mumbled as he began to fidget with his hands. She laid her hands over his, and gave his fingers a squeeze. "You know, after our stint with the 3.0 project is up, we're going to live normal lives. And I thought a traditional wedding would…signify that."_

"_But who knows how long this project's going to last?" she asked. "You and I both agreed that we want a short engagement…what if this project lasts for years? We won't have time to plan a wedding with all of this other crap going on…"_

_He looked up at her with his sad brown eyes, and she was amazed at how they can make her heart hurt…_

"_You're right. Screw traditional," he said, taking a deep breath. "As long as we're together, right?"_

She looked up as Chuck walked through the door to their bedroom, and smiled up at him.

"Whoa!" he cried, surprised. "I didn't think you'd be home…"

He walked over, and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Yeah, Ellie and I were hanging out for a bit, and then she got paged," she told him, pulling him down next to her on the bed.

"Watch out, I probably smell like Casey's combat uniform," he laughed, as she peppered him with kisses.

"I don't care," she said throatily, "I have something to tell you, and you're probably going to think I'm a hypocrite, but I don't care."

"I knew it!" he cried. "You really do like _Battlestar Galactica, _don't you?"

"Yeah…no."

"You think that _Wrath of Khan_ is one of the greatest movies ever made?"

"Chuck, this isn't a guessing game," she giggled. "Can I just tell you what I have to say?"

"Is it bad…?"

"No…well, maybe," she said.

"Okay, well, just say it then," he said, looking concerned.

For a moment, she gave a timid look before a smile spread across her face.

"Ellie and I found this little chapel today for our wedding," she began. "It seats about 100 people, and I think it would be perfect for our wedding!"

He stared at her in shock, and she knew that he probably thought she was the world's biggest hypocrite.

"Okay, so you know your sister," she said quickly. "I guess she's been browsing around the web, and she saw the chapel, then she told me about it, and I really do think it would be nice to have a normal wedding…"

"What…?" he asked absentmindedly. "Oh, yeah, of course…that sounds great, Sarah. Wow…I just have a strange feeling of déjà vu…but yeah, that's awesome…"

"Really? Because you look a little…"

"Oh, no," he chuckled, shaking his head. "It was just a shock…so is that where you and Ellie went today?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Chuck? I have something else I need to tell you…"

"What?"

"So…um…Ellie and I talked to the people at the chapel, and they said they were booked up for the next six months…"

"Okay…?"

"But a couple just cancelled on them…so…I decided to book their date."

"When is it?"

"…um…" she began shyly. "This Friday…"

"Seriously?"

"I know it's _really_ soon, and it's a lot to plan in a week, but we can do this! The tailor already knows your measurements from all of our previous missions, and after the mission tomorrow, Ellie's taking me to look at dresses. I figured we can just have our reception on the beach. It's going to be a small wedding anyway, so…"

Chuck smiled warmly at her, almost looking proud, "You really thought this through pretty fast!"

"I know! It's _crazy!_" she laughed. "So…do you want to do it?"

"Of course!" Chuck cried, wrapping his arms around Sarah.

**

* * *

**

**One Hour Ago**

"Uh…good job, I guess," moaned Chuck, massaging his ribs.

"Yeah, thanks," said Shaw. "I meant to pull some of those kicks, but…"

"No, that's cool. Man, if I weren't padded by Kevlar, then you probably would have killed me," Chuck said, scratching the scar on his neck. Shaw began to hear a hissing noise in his ears, and immediately cleared his mind as a series of images flashed.

A photo of Mt. Everest

Surveillance video of Bartowski's eyes fluttering. With his eyes refocusing, Bartowski and a blonde female agent began fighting their way through a group of Ring operatives. Bartowski barely dodging a knife, and knocking out an agent as his neck began to bleed. The female agent turns to the camera, aims her gun, and shoots it.

A photo of Mt. Everest

A million different thoughts ran through his head. He had known that it was a CIA agent named Walker who had killed his wife. He'd known that ever since he downloaded the Intersect. However, the Intersect didn't provide any pictures of Walker. Instead, it told him that she was dead, and so was her partner, Carmichael. But Walker was Carmichael's partner…Bartowski was Carmichael…that meant that Reynolds _had_ to be Walker. How could he have missed it? It should have been obvious…

"Shaw," rang Morgan's voice, breaking the thoughts away. "Did you flash?"

"No," said Shaw, "I just got a dizzy for a second. I need to get these pads off. Actually, I'm going to take a shower! Chuck, thanks for being my sparring partner today. You're really good, man. I'll see you guys tomorrow before the mission, yeah?"

He heard the two other men give their replies, and he quickly walked away to his room.

As he stepped into his sleeping quarter, still trying to make sense of what happened, his laptop began to beep. He pried the notebook open, and he saw a man smiling at him.

"Good evening, Daniel," the man said with an oily British accent. "I'm just calling to check up on you, old friend."

"Evening…" said Shaw, "Director…I apologize for being late for the briefing."

"Not a problem," said the director. "I assume the mission tomorrow is still a go?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to plant two of my agents, although you probably already know that."

Shaw nodded.

"You know what to do with them?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good," the director smiled. "After you get the rabbit's foot, you are to make your team believe that they can use it against us, understood?"

Again, Shaw nodded.

"The Ring thanks you, Agent Shaw," said the director, nodding to Shaw. "Oh, by the way. Did you flash on who killed your dear Evelyn?"

"Yes…"

"May I ask who it was?"

"Deputy Director Reynolds," he replied darkly.

The director looked up in surprise.

"Well, my friend, just have a little patience," said the director. "We need the agency to trust you, but once the rabbit's foot is fixed, feel free to do what you want to poor Ms. Reynolds."

"Understood, sir."

**

* * *

**

**Twist! **

**The next chapter is pretty much halfway done (let me tell ya, in my opinion, I think you guys are going to think that the next chapter is going to be awesome), but if you want to read it soon, then you know what to do. So what's going to happen next for our favorite team? Well, I can tell you that someone that's not Sarah sees Chuck's…er…hoo-haw, and I can also tell you that there's a wedding. Will it all go according to plan? You'll find out sometime this week (probably Wednesday)!**

**Thank you guys for reading, and reviewing! You guys are truly awesome…**


	8. The Vows

**Disclaimer: Don't own **_**Chuck**_**. It would be pretty cool if I did…but alas, I do not.**

**A/N: Here's an early update. I've had this sitting around for the last two days, and it was yelling at me to post it. Thank you for reading! This is my personal favorite chapter. I hope you like it too! So this one kind of jumps around the week, but it's pretty self explanatory…just pay attention to the days and it should be fine. **

**

* * *

**

**Friday**

The brunette woman unrolled the last curler from Sarah's hair; her golden hair now styled in loose curls. She examined her own face, lightly made up. Behind her, a tall, attractive redheaded woman smiled reluctantly.

"I still can't believe you're actually going through with this," said the redhead. Sarah looked over to her friend, and smiled.

"What can I say, Carina?" she asked. "I guess Chuck brings out the worst in me."

"You know," said Carina, crossing her arms. "I brought some knives…just say the word and I'll kill ol' Chucky for ya…"

"There will be none of that," said Ellie sternly, glaring at the redhead.

"Ellie, Carina's just joking," giggled Sarah. "Despite what she says, she loves Chuck."

"Meh," Carina shrugged. "I just don't know how I feel about Chucky making you all sappy and so..._girly_!"

"Shut up," laughed Sarah. "You know somewhere, deep down inside your cold heart, you're happy for me."

For a moment, the redhead hesitated. "I really am," Carina admitted finally. "You've got yourself a good man. I should know. I mean, after seeing that boy in the nude? I never knew the nerd had it in him…"

Ellie made a strange gurgling noise. "Excuse me?" she demanded.

"It's a long story, Elle," replied Sarah.

* * *

**Last Sunday**

"…so do you want to do it?" she asked.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her.

"Whoo! You stink, Chuck," she chuckled, pushing him away playfully. "You really do need to take a shower!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Chuck, quickly getting out of the bed. "So I'll just take a quick shower, and we can go out?"

"Actually," Sarah purred. "How about we stay in tonight?"

"Really? I mean, we haven't really gone out since laser tag, and…" a look of realization dawns on his face. "_Oh_…Sarah, you saucy minx, you…" he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Giggling, she pushed him away as he drew closer. "Seriously, Stinky, hit the showers!"

"Yes'm!" he cried, jogging out of the bedroom.

Still giggling, Sarah plopped down on the bed happily. Two years ago, she would have been deeply conflicted by this situation: a wedding in less than a week to her former asset? That was just crazy…

But now, two years later, she feels…_elated_. Like she has something to look forward to. If tomorrow's mission is successful, then she gave it two weeks tops before they finally shut down the Ring. The general plan was to use the rabbit's foot against the rogue agency, and if everything went according to plan, then she and him could always have the life they wanted. A normal life…

Slowly, her smile began to fade…something felt off, yet familiar. Her spy senses began to creep back, and she looked toward the closet door. Cautiously grabbing Chuck's miniature model of a Master Chief Helmet (why he still had that, she didn't know) from the bedside table, she slowly crept toward the closet. As she drew near, the door suddenly flung open. A black ski masked figure quickly darted toward her.

She ducked underneath a swift kick from the intruder, and tried to smash the helmet into their knee. However, as soon as she drew her arm back, another kick sent the helmet flying from her hand. _Damn it! I'm getting slow_…

She rolled away from a kick aimed at her face, and quickly stood into her fighting stance. Without warning, the intruder kicked up the helmet and caught it in their hand.

"Really, Walker?" said the hooded intruder, turning her head to stare at the helmet. "Isn't this a video game character?"

"Carina…I should have known," Sarah smiled, catching the helmet as Carina flung it at her. "Did you know that in 1876 some guy named Alexander Graham invented this _amazing _device called…a telephone?"

"You're getting—" Carina began, as the bedroom door flung open, and Chuck let out a shrill yell. He quickly pulled Carina into a sleeper hold, dragging her down, and pinning her with his knee.

"What the hell do you want?" he demanded harshly.

"Wow, Chucky," said Carina, slightly struggling for breath. "I never knew you were so…_aggressive_."

"Carina?" he asked, jumping to his feet. "What the hell…?"

"Walker, here, wrote me an email about a week ago saying she wanted me to join her team," Carina replied, pulling her facemask off. She looked up and down Chuck's naked body. Sarah looked as well, and she stifled a laugh. He had been stark naked. "Well, well, well, Chuckles," said the redhead. "I am _very_ impressed…"

"What are you talking about?" asked Chuck, looking baffled.

"Uh, sweetie…your towel fell off," Sarah giggled. He looked down, and his face had turned beet red.

"Oh, Jesus!" he cried, quickly running out of the room.

"Good to see you again, Chuck!" Carina called after him. "So, Walker…while I was in that stuffy closet, waiting for you, I overheard you and Chucky talking about getting married. Is that true?"

"Yep, and my name's Reynolds now," said Sarah. "Sarah Walker died in Paraguay."

"How sad…" sighed Carina. "I liked her."

Sarah shrugged. The truth was, she liked being Sarah Walker…Sarah Walker felt like something that she and Chuck had created together…

"You said something about being a deputy director now?"

"Indeed I am."

"That sounds boring…"

"It's only for a little while," she said, sitting back down on her bed. "So I'm glad to see that you checked your email."

"What can I say? Colombian drug lords are boring." Carina plopped herself down on Chuck's computer chair.

"Yeah…speaking of that, I heard you were undercover…I didn't expect to see you for another couple of months."

"Easy mission. In fact, the DEA gave me some time off, so I thought I'd come by to help you out," Carina explained. "And imagine my surprise when I snuck into your old shitty hotel room to find a middle aged couple doing it doggy style in the bed you used to sleep in…"

"Yikes…gross…"

"And the scarring continued," said Carina, leaning back in her chair. "I decided to come here, because I figured that you and the nerd were finally banging, and then I see you sitting on that bed looking like some school girl…all excited and giddy about…marriage?"

She felt her cheeks burn as she shrugged again. The only person she allowed to see her giddy was Chuck…maybe Ellie as well…

"So…are you knocked up?"

"What? No!"

"Then why the hell are you getting married?"

"Why the hell not?" Sarah asked rhetorically. "As soon as Chuck and my team finish what we have to do, then we're both done with the agency."

"My god!" Carina gave a look of genuine shock. "How the mighty have fallen! Chucky must be pretty damn good in bed for you to quit the agency. You've been an agent your entire adult life!"

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but yeah, he's damn good in bed," said Sarah, "And I've been tired of the agency for a long time, Carina. You knew that."

"Yeah, I know," said Carina, looking lost in thought. She was so lost in thought that she didn't seem to notice Chuck creeping back into the room, and pulling on a shirt. "Well, Sarah…I'm happy for you."

"Thanks," said Sarah gratefully.

* * *

**Friday**

She began to breathe heavily as a million nervous thoughts ran through her mind. _What if I'm not a good wife? Oh, God, what if Chuck gets tired of me? Would he get tired of me? It seems like he really does love me…What did I get myself into? Shut up, Sarah, you want this. You know you do. Just calm the fuck down!_

"Director," mumbled Forrest into her ear. "You okay there?"

"What?" she asked, snapping out of her revelry, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Pre-wedding jitters…" stated Forrest.

"I suppose. Everyone goes through it, right?"

"I guess," replied Forrest. "I wouldn't know. Permission to speak freely?"

"Forrest, right now, I'm not your boss," she replied. "It really doesn't matter what you say. Right now, you have free reign, and I promise I won't fire you."

"Right," nodded Forrest. "Listen; remember when I was Beckman's 49B?"

"How could I forget?" she deadpanned.

"Well, you can choose to believe me or not to believe me, but," Forrest took a deep breath, "I felt bad for my assessment. Believe me, I did. I saw that you and Bartowski had something special, but you have to understand, I was just doing my job. I _had_ to get your reassigned. I'm sure you would have done the same if you were in my shoes."

She nodded.

"What I'm saying is, you have nothing to worry about," continued Forrest. "Bartowski seems like a good guy. He's perfect for you and I know he'll treat you well."

"I know he will…"

"Then why the hell are you being a little bitch?"

Sarah sighed, and shook her head. "What if _I_ can't treat _him_ well?"

"Wow…" Forrest sighed. "Reynolds, I've seen how you were with Bartowski. I've seen how you broke rules for the kid. Hell, you pretty much bent over backwards for him. Believe me, you're not going to let him down either."

Reluctantly, Sarah smiled up at the older blonde woman; surprised by Forrest's sudden kindness. Chuck was right, Forrest did have a heart somewhere deep inside, past the gloomy forest, and past Mt. Doom. _God, Chuck succeeded in turning me into a nerd_, she thought.

"Forrest…err…Alexandra?" said Sarah. "Thanks…"

"Meh," the agent grunted in a Casey like fashion. "I'm only nice to you, because I found someone else to hate."

* * *

**Last Monday**

While the mission had been a success, Shaw had failed to follow Sarah's orders. She _specifically_ told him to bring the Ring agents in. They _needed_ those agents for more information on the rabbit's foot. Instead, the big brute goes off and shoots them to hell.

"God damn it, Shaw!" she screamed, stepping up close to Shaw, who was seated in front of her, "What did I tell you?"

"Director, I—"

"What did I tell you?" she repeated loudly. When she felt Chuck's hand on her back, she quickly flicked it away.

"You told me to bring in the Ring operatives alive," said Shaw, glaring up at her.

"That's right," she said, glaring right back at him. "When I give you a _direct_ order, you fucking follow it, you understand?"

He didn't reply, instead he glared up at her as if he were some rebelling teen. That caused Forrest to step up behind him and kick his chair.

"Hey, moron, the director asked you a question," said Forrest harshly, glaring down at him.

"I understand…_ma'am_…" he muttered, getting up out of his chair.

She continued to glare at Shaw. For reasons unknown, something felt off about him. In all of her years as an agent, she knew to trust her instincts, and her instincts told her that Shaw couldn't be trusted. Chuck stepped up, and handed Shaw a small remote control.

"See if you can flash on it," said Chuck.

She watched as Shaw's eyelids fluttered.

"What did you see?" asked Chuck, leaving her feeling grateful that she didn't have to speak to Shaw.

"It's indeed the rabbit's foot," replied Shaw, handing the remote back to Chuck. "It works by plugging it into an USB port. But Treadstone never had the chance to finish it."

"What needs to be fixed?" asked Casey.

"It's missing a motherboard, but that can easily be obtained as long as either of you has access to a computer engineer…"

Chuck and Sarah shared a look.

"Yeah, I think that's doable," said Chuck, not taking his eyes off Sarah.

"Another thing," said Shaw. "We believed that the Ring ordered bunker busting missiles from Treadstone. They actually purchased a computer virus; a Trojan horse. It's used to infiltrate enemy computers, extracting all of the intel from them, and rendering the whole databases useless."

"How do you know that?"

"I found that out when I just flashed."

"Can we use it against them?" asked Casey. Shaw nodded.

"As long as we can build a motherboard and write the proper software, we can use it against them."

"Good," said Sarah. "Chuck, do you think you can write the software?"

"Yeah, I'll get on that. It should be easy," he replied. "And I'll call our guy; see if he can build us that motherboard."

"Okay, let me know if he can."

Chuck nodded, and turned to Shaw, "Hey, man, good job on getting the rabbit's foot."

"Thanks," he grumbled.

* * *

**Friday**

Chuck smiled at the few people in attendance. When you only had five days warning, it was hard to gather up a big audience for a wedding. But he didn't care. All the important people in his life were here. He smiled as a grinning man approached him up at the altar.

"Charles," said his father, pulling him into a hug. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Dad," he grinned. "I'm glad you're here."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Mr. Bartowski released the hug.

He laughed. "I know, Dad…"

"I'm proud of you, son. You've got yourself a great girl."

"I know, Dad. I know."

The music began to swell, and his father gave him one last smile and a wink before he headed back down to the pew. Turning to the entrance, he saw Casey walking arm in arm with Forrest. When they reached him, Casey shook his hand.

"Congratulations, kid," Casey mumbled into his ear. "That is, if Reynolds didn't run away."

"Well…" said Forrest awkwardly giving Chuck a hug. "Listen, I already gave Reynolds a heartfelt speech, and I've reached my quota for the year. Good luck, Bartowski."

"Thanks, Casey…Thanks, Forrest," smiled Chuck.

Casey made his way to behind Chuck, still chuckling at his own joke. He shook his head, and turned back to the entrance to see Morgan and Carina making their way down the aisle.

"Congrats, man," said Morgan, pulling Chuck into a hug. "I love you, bro…"

"Love you too, Little Buddy."

"So is it cool if Alex and I come over tomorrow? I'm having videogame withdrawals…"

"Sure, buddy…" Chuck laughed.

Carina reached up and pulled him into a hug.

"Take good care of my friend, Chucky," she said. "If you don't, then I'll kill you. You know how much I love knives, right?"

"I will, and yes, I know how much you love knives…"

"Good. You and Sarah are perfect for each other, so I'm not _that_ worried…but there's always that slim chance that you'll fuck up," Carina smiled as she and Morgan took their places.

Ellie and Awesome began to walk down the aisle; tears streamed down Ellie's smiling face. When they reached the altar, Ellie immediately pulled Chuck into a tight hug.

"You're aces, Chuck," she sniffed. "I'm so proud and happy for you. I love you, little brother."

"I love you too, Elle," he said, giving his sister a kiss on her cheek. Awesome reached over, and hugged Chuck as well.

"You and Sarah are awesome together," said Devon. "Congratulations, bro."

"Thanks, Dev."

As Ellie and Devon took their places, Chuck turned toward the entrance once more, and beamed happily as he waited for his soon to be wife to walk through the entrance.

* * *

**Last Tuesday**

"I know what this is," said Stephen Bartowski, taking the remote from Chuck's hand. "I take it that the Ring has Treadstone's Trojan horse virus?"

"Yep," replied Chuck. "It's just missing the motherboard. Do you think you can build one?"

"Yeah, of course," said Stephen. "But why?"

"Because, we're going to use that against the Ring," said Chuck. "We'll be able to delete their whole databases, and obtain their information. Once we do that, they'll be helpless. Weak. If it works, then we should be able to take them out in a week."

"Well," smiled the old man. "Looks like I got myself a job to do! Speaking of which, Charles, I finished the Treasure Chest. I know you wanted to help, but I've been bored, and I designed you a good graphics card."

Stephen slid out of his chair, and walked over to a cabinet, pulling out a small, compact console.

"You see," Stephen explained. "Those 3-D TV's are all the rage. I noticed that no one even _attempted_ to make a 3-D videogame console, so I designed one. I know it's different from your original design, but I drew up some specs for the graphics card. I know how much you like to write software and your own games, so if you follow the specs, then you can make yourself a hell of a game."

"Wow, Dad," breathed Chuck, deeply impressed. "Just…that's amazing…"

"I thought so too," smiled Stephen. "I thought…once your stint with the CIA is over, then this can be your reliever—a new source of income…"

"Thank you so much, Dad!"

"Aw, stop it…you know I'd do anything for you and your sister. Now go take your lady out to dinner," Stephen ordered. "I'll get to work in this rabbit's foot, so you and her can get started on your real lives soon."

* * *

**Friday**

She watched as Ellie, her maid of honor, Carina and Forrest, her bridesmaids, left the dressing room. Turning to check herself in the mirror one last time, Sarah couldn't help but admit that she looked…nice. As she straightened her veil for what felt like the hundredth time, a gentle knock rapped the door. It was probably Ellie to remind her that the wedding march was about to begin.

"Come in," she called, turning to the door. Instead of the smiling brunette, she saw a middle aged man with graying hair beaming at her.

"Hey, darlin'," said the man, smiling widely. She stared up at the man in shock.

"D—daddy?" she choked, not believing her eyes. "Why—how did you…?"

"Well, schnook and I met up a few days ago," he replied. "I always knew the two of you were some sort of _cops_…Anyway, he told me about the two of you, and…" Jack Reynolds paused, and took a deep breath, "and even though I know I'll get arrested after the wedding, I'm not going to let my daughter walk down that aisle by herself."

She didn't know what to say. She didn't know whether she should be happy or angry; grateful or sorry…

"Listen, angel," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I know I haven't really been there for you in the last few years, but…"

"Its okay, Daddy," she finally said, pulling her father into a hug. "Thank you so much for coming."

Jack smiled at her, and held his arm out. "C'mon, darlin', let's get you married."

* * *

**Last Wednesday**

Shaw sat across from Chuck in Chuck's office. In front of them were small beakers filled with different types of poison.

"Okay," said Chuck guiltily. "I actually feel bad for doing this to you, but this is your last test before I can sign you off for solo mission." He indicated to the beakers. "As you can see, we've got three different poisons."

"You want me to take them so I can flash on how to resist them?" asked Shaw.

He nodded. "Yeah, but in case you can't, I've got the antidotes—"

He couldn't finish as Shaw grabbed the first beaker and flushed the poison it contained down his throat. Immediately, Shaw's face turned into a pale yellow color, and Chuck watched as his eyes began to flutter. Suddenly, the color returned to Shaw's face.

"Good," said Chuck. "Let's take a little break—"

Again, Shaw swallowed back another beaker full of poison, and flashed. He took the last beaker, and did the same.

"Wow…someone's been practicing," smiled Chuck, handing Shaw a bottled water.

Shaw shrugged. "I've had a lot of time to get the flashes down. So…am I ready for a solo mission?"

"Yeah," replied Chuck. "Next Tuesday, you're going to Moscow…"

"Okay, then," said Shaw, standing up from his chair. "Just send me the mission folder when you can."

"Shaw," he called as Shaw began to walk out of his office. "Is everything alright, man?"

"Yeah, Chuck. Everything's just _dandy_…"

"Listen, I know you're probably pissed that the director lashed out on you…"

"Its fine," said Shaw. "She had every reason to. I disobeyed a direct order. Besides, once your guy fixes the rabbit's foot, we'll be able to take out the Ring. I understand that you and the director are going to leave the agency once that happens."

"Yeah…"

"Looks like you two will be getting the lives you've always wanted then," said Shaw coldly. "Congratulations, Chuck."

"Thanks…" Feeling awkward, Chuck began clearing the beakers off his desk. "So what are you going to do after we take out the Ring? You think you're going to retire?"

"No," replied Shaw, his back still turned from Chuck. "I'm going after the person who killed Eve, and I'm going to kill them."

"Shaw," he said, concerned. "Killing the person who killed your wife isn't going to bring her back."

"That person deserves it, Chuck. It's not about what's right or wrong, it's about what's fair…"

"It's not going to accomplish anything."

"How would you know?" demanded Shaw, turning to face Chuck. "You never had to hold the person you loved most in the world, helpless, as their life slipped away! You don't know what I've been through!"

"You're right," said Chuck calmly. "I don't. But ask yourself this, once you get your vengeance, do you think you'll find peace?"

"Tell me something, if someone were to shoot your fiancée in cold blood, wouldn't you want vengeance?"

He didn't say anything. He tried to maintain a stoic expression, but he knew he failed. He knew that he wouldn't be able to let that person go if they had killed Sarah…

"Just what I thought," said Shaw smugly, leaving the Chuck alone with nothing but his thoughts.

* * *

**Friday**

As the sound of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major began to fill the chapel, he felt his heartbeat quickening in anticipation. The entrance doors opened, and his vision suddenly filled with the most breathtaking woman he had ever laid eyes on. He remembered that fateful day when he first met Sarah…the day that forever changed his life. He remembered how he felt when Sarah gently bumped him with her shoulder that night on the beach when she told him to trust her. Sure they had some bumps along the road, but he really couldn't believe how far they had come. She was _marrying_ him! She was going to be his wife in a few minutes...

He stepped down from the altar, and he was greeted by Mr. Reynolds.

"Take good care of her, Charlie," said Mr. Reynolds, shaking his hand. He watched as Sarah's father wrapped his arms around her, muttering, "I love you, angel."

"I love you too, Daddy…" she said, turning to Chuck and greeting him with a smile that made his heart stop. As they walked up to the altar, she gave his hand a squeeze and mouthed, "Thank you, Chuck. For everything."

* * *

**Last Thursday**

"Oh, wow…" he mumbled in her ear. "Casey's pissed."

He nodded over at Casey who was sitting at the bar, glaring daggers into Morgan's skull as the bearded man danced with Alex. One of Devon's old frat brothers owned the hotel for Chuck and Sarah's rehearsal dinner. Somehow, Devon managed to pull off their party to have the hotel bar for themselves (granted, the hotel was pretty empty due to all of the guests leaving after Thanksgiving).

"I really don't know why he would be though," she said in confusion, watching Casey taking a double shot of whiskey, and holding his glass up to the bartender. "To be honest, it's kind of frustrating don't you think?"

"How do you mean?"

"Think about it," she said. "We haven't been spies for like…almost three weeks and already, we're losing our skills…"

"Yeah…" agreed Chuck, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"A bit of both, I think. I mean, it's a good thing because I guess we're adjusting pretty well together. It's a bad thing because I really want to know what's wrong with Casey…"

"You know…I could just ask him," he suggested. She raised a skeptical eyebrow which caused him to chuckle. "Yeah…all I'd get out of him is an empty threat."

"Hey, you two," a voice called from behind them. Sarah turned and saw that the source of the voice was coming from Mr. Bartowski.

"Hey, Mr. Bartowski!"

"Hey, Dad," Chuck smiled. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if I could ask your fiancée for a dance," replied the elder Bartowski.

"Why, Mr. Bartowski," Sarah chuckled. "I thought you'd never ask!"

She quickly pecked Chuck's cheeks. "I'll be right back, Chuck."

"You two have fun," he smiled as she wrapped an arm around Mr. Bartowski's and let him lead her to the dance floor. They began to sway slowly to the rhythm of the music.

"I should thank you," he said, smiling.

"For what?" she asked.

"Eleanor told me about how Charles used to be after he got kicked out of Stanford," he replied. "How depressed he was…how he wasn't living up to his potential. Then she told me about how you came into his life, and how he began to change—mature, and how he slowly grew more confident with every passing day…"

"Mr. Bartowski, I—"

"No, Sarah," he smiled. "I know that you've risked your life a countless number of times for my son. So you deserved to be thanked."

Smiling bashfully, Sarah looked up at the elder Bartowski. "You know, Chuck's saved my life in so many more ways than I can say. Your son is a great man, Mr. Bartowski."

"I know he is," said Mr. Bartowski. "Listen, I couldn't exactly get you guys a wedding gift…"

"It's fine," laughed Sarah. "Really…"

"Well, I meant to get the rabbit's foot done by tonight," he said. "But I can get it finished by Monday. If my calculations are correct, and they always are, I'd say you and Charles would be living a normal life this time next week."

* * *

**Friday**

"I, Sarah Lisa Reynolds, take you, Charles Irving Bartowski, to be my husband, my partner, my best friend, and my one true love. I will cherish forever our friendship and our love. I promise, with all my heart, to love you each day—no matter how hard things may be. I promise to cherish every single moment that I have with you for the rest of my life: the good, the bad, the happy, and the sad. I will cherish them. I give you my hand to hold, and my heart is yours to keep. I love you, Chuck…"

She lifted a hand to brush away a tear from her cheek. He smiled lovingly at her, and gave her a wink.

"And now, the groom will recite his vows," the minister announced.

Chuck took a deep breath.

* * *

**The Monday After the Wedding**

"_**I, Charles Irving Bartowski, take you, Sarah Lisa Reynolds to be my wife, my best friend, my partner, and my confidant…"**_

He brought his ringing phone up to his ear.

"Hello, Chuck," Shaw's voice rang coldly through the receiver.

"Shaw," he growled. "Where the hell are you? Where did you take the rabbit's foot?"

"I'll get to that in a moment," Shaw replied. "Right now, I need you to listen to my little story.

"On March 12, 2005, Evelyn Shaw obtained important intel regarding the Ring. At the time, the intel was so vital that the CIA would have been able to capture the Ring Elders in no time, therefore, putting an end to them. Since the CIA has always been daft, they began to target Evelyn Shaw and me, believing us to be Ring operatives."

"_**I promise to laugh with you in times of happiness and comfort you in times of sorrow…"**_

"Where are you, Shaw?" he demanded, gripping his phone tightly to his ear.

"It's still my turn to talk," said Shaw. "Later that night, Evelyn and I were getting ready to send the CIA our reports. Little did _we_ know, the CIA already sent a rookie agent to kill my wife. Do you know who that agent was? I'll give you a hint: she was _your_ partner, Chuck Bartowski…or should I say, Charles Carmichael…"

"How the hell did you know?"

"That's the funny thing…they tried to remove any trace of the former human Intersect from the 3.0, but they forgot to remove the surveillance video from the night you got that little scar on your neck."

A chill ran up Chuck's spine, causing goose bumps to rise on the back of neck. _Damn it_!

"Do you remember what I told you last Wednesday, Chuck?" Shaw asked. "I told you that once everything was over, I'm going to find and kill the person who killed my wife. Ironically, the person who killed _my_ wife happens to be _your_ wife!"

"_**I promise you that I will do anything to help all your dreams come true and to be by your side through anything…"**_

"That's not going to happen, Shaw…"

"I thought you'd say that, which is why while you and your wife were getting married, I took the liberty to bring in three hundred pounds of C4 into the Cathedral basement," Shaw laughed. Chuck immediately put his phone on speaker, and began writing a text message to send to Casey, Morgan, Carina, and Forrest.

_Bomb in Cathedral basement. Evacuate building!_ He typed.

"Don't bother, Chuck," said Shaw as if he could see what Chuck was doing. Chuck turned, looking all around his surroundings for Shaw. He scanned through the buildings, the trees…but frankly, it was downtown LA…finding Shaw would be like finding a needle in a haystack. "I already put Cathedral in detention mode with the help of this extremely cool wrist computer that I found underneath your bed. Really, Chuck…you should learn how to properly hide things as important as this here wrist computer. No one goes inside Cathedral; no one goes out. Oh, I really doubt anyone would be able to diffuse my bomb. I _did_ have the Intersect's help after all…"

"God damn it, Shaw!" he cried in frustration.

"_**I promise to help when you need it; to step aside when you don't."**_

"Where the fuck are you, Shaw?" Chuck yelled, ignoring the onlookers.

"Okay, here's the deal: you're going to bring me your wife. Honestly, I think that's a small price to pay considering you have thirty innocent analysts, some of them just starting new families, four of the world's best spies, one bearded guy who, to be honest, I really don't know what the hell he does, and one twenty-two year old college student…she's just a _baby_…she probably never even got to experience life. All of those people are currently trapped in that building. If you don't bring me Sarah in an hour, I _will_ blow that building up. Bring her to South Coast Plaza at the north entrance in an hour, and all those lives will be spared."

"_**I promise to put your needs before mine. I promise to protect you through any danger you may face. I promise to value your life more than anyone else's. I swear to you that you are now, and always will be the love of my life. No matter what kind of obstacles life may throw at us, I will always be there. I love you, Sarah Reynolds, with all the strength that I have…"**_

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**A/N**:** I really hope you guys liked this chapter…it was the only way I knew how to fit in a wedding while moving the main plot forward as well. Reviews would be freaking awesome and really appreciated. **

**A Warning for the Next Chapter:** A main character is going to die. Yes, I'm going to have to kill someone off in the story…any guesses? The person who guesses correctly in the reviews will get an internet high-5 from me. I know…pretty exciting, right? :)


	9. Dip 'N Dots

**A/N: Hello, again! A lot of people are going to be surprised by this chapter (at least, that's what I like to think). This chapter was probably the most difficult to write for me. I don't know why, but it just was…**

**Again, thank you to all of you who reviewed! **

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Casey made his way to the filing cabinet, and stopped as he saw his daughter and that bearded troll giggled in their little corner. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't just walk over to Grimes and snap his hairy neck. Oh, how he wanted to snap that furry bastard's neck right now. Casey felt his pulse quicken as Alex placed her hand on top of Grimes'. _Grimes…you're a dead man_.

But who was he to put a stop to whatever the hell was going on with Alex and Morgan? Sure, he's Alex's father, but he hadn't even known that he _had_ a daughter till he had read Alex's file three weeks ago and saw that her mother was Kathleen McHugh, his fiancée, and she was born on December 17, 1989. Seven months after _he_ had supposedly died…

"…so I rallied up all of the analysts, right?" Casey heard Morgan saying to Alex, "And we made it our personal mission to get a Dip 'N Dots machine here in Cathedral. Lo and behold, we accomplished our mission. They're currently installing the machine as we speak."

"Are they really? I _love_ Dip 'N Dots!" Alex cried happily. "When do you think the machine will be ready?"

"I don't know, I was just down there, and they said they were having problems with the liquid nitrogen set up…so maybe in a couple of hours?" guessed Morgan. "So…how about you and I pop the cherry on that machine later?"

Casey watched as Alex flashed the troll a smitten smile and said, "It's a date, Mr. Grimes…"

In the last three weeks, Casey got to know his daughter. He saw how warm and kind she was, and how much ass she could kick. She was going to make a hell of an Agent. If she wanted to date the bearded troll, well…things could be worse. Grimes may be an idiot, but that kid is one loyal and brave son of a bitch.

Casey felt someone bump into his hip, and as he was about to release a predatory growl, he saw Forrest smiling coyly at him.

"Good morning, Colonel," she greeted, sipping the cup of coffee he had left in her office earlier.

"Agent Forrest," he said in his usual deep, baritone voice, giving her a nod.

"Thanks for the coffee," she smiled, giving him another bump with her hip and a wink.

"Not a problem." He flashed a hint of a smile, and watched her as she walked back into her office. _Damn…that woman is the M4 Carbine rifle of women_; _smooth, accurate, and harsh. Just how I like them…_

"So you're slamming her now?" a voice called from his left. Casey turned and saw her…the ginger, scarlet woman who humiliated him in Prague so many years ago.

"Agent Miller," he grunted as Carina stood in front of him with her arms crossed. "I figured you'd be back out on whore island by now…"

"Seems like everyone's getting some action here other than me," Carina sighed, ignoring Casey's quip. "I mean, you're slamming on Agent Woods—"

"Her name's Forrest."

"Whatever," she waved her hand. "Sarah's getting boned by Chuck…even Martin over there seems to be getting some action from the pixie…"

Casey growled, and silently counted back from a hundred to keep his calm, watching Grimes getting all googly eyed around his daughter.

"And that new guy—Shaw—might as well be a robot," she continued, either ignoring or not noticing the fact that Casey's face was redder than a tomato. "What's a girl gotta do to get some action?"

"I'm pretty sure you'll think of something," he grunted.

Just then, the newlywed Bartowski's walked in, with Chuck carrying a metallic briefcase.

"Dude!" cried Morgan to Chuck. "We got a Dip 'N Dots machine!"

A frustrated grunt escaped Casey's throat as Chuck smiled idiotically. _Damn, Bartowski, it's just ice cream. Keep it in your pants!_

"NO WAY!" cried the taller of the two nerds, bouncing on his heels like a school girl. Before the bearded troll and the brown haired Curly Sue could say or do anything more, Sarah cleared her throat, cueing them back to reality.

"Anyway," she said. "Alex? Do you want to round up the other agents and tell them to meet Chuck and me in the conference room?"

"Of course," smiled Alex, getting up from her chair.

Minutes later, everyone gathered into the conference room, waiting to be briefed. Finally, once everyone settled into their seats, Chuck began the meeting.

"So my tech guy finished the motherboard," he said, sliding the briefcase across the table to Shaw. "You think you can flash on it and see if it works?"

"Sure…give me a sec," said Shaw, unclasping the case.

"So is today your last day?" Morgan asked to Chuck and Sarah. Casey turned to the couple.

"No," replied Sarah, smiling kindly at Morgan. "Wednesday's our last day. If the rabbit's foot is done, then Chuck and I are going to meet with Beckman to give it to her. After that, we have to finish up writing evaluations…"

"Evaluations?" asked Morgan. "Like a report card?"

"Sort of," replied Sarah. "You know…I have to write out how you all performed while out on missions, but luckily, we've only had one, so that wouldn't take too long."

"And I have to write recommendations for the analysts," said Chuck. Casey turned to Shaw to see him adjusting slightly in his seat (most likely from the flash) as Shaw clasped the case shut, and slid it back to Chuck.

"It's good," he said, nodding to Chuck.

"Right-o!"

"Okay, now that that's taken care of, we can move on," said Sarah, turning to face everyone around the table. "Like I said, Chuck and I are going to meet Beckman in a bit to deliver the briefcase and to discuss some other matters."

"What would you like us to do?" asked Casey.

"Well, seeing as the Ring will most likely cease to exist in the next twenty-four hours, I'm going to ask Beckman to let everyone here have a pick in their own assignments," replied Sarah, as Casey grunted in approval. _You better watch your back, Osama, I'm coming to get you,_ Casey thought, smirking. "So why don't you think about where you want to go, and what you want to do, and leave the requests in my office? I'll see what I can do."

**

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**Undisclosed NSA Facility, LA**

"Thank you both for meeting me here." Beckman greeted Chuck and Sarah outside by the entrance. She led the two of them into the base.

"Not a problem, ma'am," said Sarah, as she and Chuck walked alongside the tiny general.

"So the rabbit's foot is complete?"

"Yes, ma'am," answered Chuck. "My father finished the motherboard, and Shaw confirmed that it'll work. I finished writing the software, and everything's in the case."

"Good," nodded Beckman, stepping into an empty office. As she walked around behind a desk, she indicated for them to take a seat across from her. "How is Agent Shaw holding up as the Intersect? You haven't had any major problems with him?"

Chuck and Sarah exchanged glances, and he gave her a nod.

"Well, to be honest, ma'am," began Sarah. "As the Intersect, he's exceeded our expectations. We thought it would take at least a month for him to adapt to everything, but he's proved to be a fast learner…" she hesitated for a moment. Beckman raised an eyebrow.

"However…?"

"However, he seems to have made it a personal vendetta when it comes to the Ring," said Chuck. "He's more focused on avenging the death of his wife."

"But as the Intersect, he's exceeded expectations?"

"Yes, ma'am," they nodded.

"What do you think he'll do after we infiltrate the Ring database?"

"This is just a guess, but…" Chuck nervously scratched the back of his neck. "I doubt the CIA will be able to control him as the Intersect. Sarah and I have discussed it over the weekend, and we believe that Agent Shaw…er…will stop at nothing to find the agent who killed his wife. We believe that will jeopardize future missions in which Agent Shaw takes a part of."

"The evidence?"

"All written here, ma'am," replied Sarah, pulling a file out from her purse, and handing it to Beckman.

"Very well." Beckman placed the folder on her desk, and began to unclasp the case containing the rabbit's foot. "Onto the matter at hand: a group of NSA analysts were successful in finding the location of the Five Ring Elders. Tomorrow, at 09:00, eastern, we will activate the rabbit's foot. We have arranged a flight for your team to leave tonight."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I will take over Operation 3.0 from here, then," said Beckman. Sarah could have sworn that she had seen the corner of Beckman's lips curving. "I assume you two will want to go on a proper honeymoon, yes?"

Once again, Sarah and Chuck both exchanged bemused looks.

"Yes, ma'am…" said Chuck cautiously.

"Then, I suggest the two of you finish writing your evaluations," smiled the general. "Send them to me tonight, and you will both be free to leave. We'll send you your final papers through the mail, and then the two of you are free to do whatever it is the two of you want to do."

"Just like that?" Chuck asked.

"Just like that, Mr. Bartowski," replied Beckman. Sarah and Chuck smiled happily at one another. They were finally free! Sarah wanted to just jump off her chair and burst into a celebratory dance with Chuck. However, before she could do anything, her thoughts were broken as Beckman opened the briefcase and let out an angry huff. "What the—where's the rabbit's foot?"

"Excuse me?" Sarah cried. Beckman turned the briefcase toward her, and Sarah saw that nothing was inside. The rabbit's foot was gone, and so was the flashdrive that Chuck had written his software on. She turned to face Chuck, and she could practically see his brain churning…

"Shaw…" he mumbled. "He must have taken it!"

"What?" cried Sarah. "How could he have…?" And then it dawned on her: when they asked Shaw to flash once more on the rabbit's foot, everyone else was distracted. God…how could she have been so stupid?

"Mr. Bartowski," snapped the general, "I want you to find a way to contact Shaw."

"Yes, ma'am," said Chuck, quickly whipping his phone from his pocket.

"Not here! Outside! I need to speak with _Mrs._ Bartowski alone…" Beckman's voice was filled with ice. "Excuse us…_Chuck_."

Giving her a quick, reassuring look, Chuck quickly scrambled out of the general's office.

"Mrs. Bartowski," sighed Beckman, "I would like for you to explain how Agent Shaw could have taken the rabbit's foot."

"It's my fault, ma'am." Although she wanted nothing more than to stare down in shame at the floor, she knew that she needed to maintain eye contact with Beckman. "We handed Shaw the case, and asked him to flash. And we…all of us, were distracted. He must have taken it then."

"Exactly how were you distracted?"

She shut her eyes for a brief moment. "I was asked a personal question, and I chose to answer…"

Beckman shook her head, and gave Sarah an angered look.

"I knew it was a mistake to allow you and Mr. Bartowski to be involved romantically…" Beckman mumbled.

"Sorry?"

"Think about it," said Beckman sternly. "Before him, you were cold; you would always finish the job without making things personal. After him, you began to thaw…I shouldn't have given you this job…"

"General, I—" Beckman held a hand up.

"I don't want to hear it," Beckman snapped. "I want you and the rest of the agents to find Shaw, and—"

Beckman's words were cut off as the lights in the room flashed on and off. The computer on the desk began to emit a whining noise. All of a sudden, alarms were set off.

"What's going on?" demanded Beckman into her intercom.

"The network is being attacked, ma'am! It's crumbling down our firewalls!" a voice cried from the intercom.

"Damn it!" Beckman slammed her fist down on the desk, and leaned forward to Sarah. "You and your team are responsible for bringing Daniel Shaw in. Dead or alive. I will not allow either you or Chuck to be dismissed until you find Shaw. Is that understood?"

Although she wanted to slam Beckman's head into the desk, Sarah knew that this was her doing. She hadn't ever trusted Shaw…she should have spoken up…at the very least, she should have kept a better eye on him when they handed him the case…

"Understood, General…"

"Then, go! You heard them…our network's being attacked, and in a couple of hours, all our resources…our data will be compromised and rendered useless."

Sarah quickly sprinted out of the office, and down the long, narrow hallway. She bumped into several military officers, but she didn't bother to stop and apologize. The only thing that mattered to her was getting to Chuck…if Shaw knew where she and Chuck were, then…she couldn't even finish the thought.

When she made it out of the facility, she scrambled about, turning a full 360 degrees until her eyes landed on Chuck's back about fifty yards away. Even with his back turned to her, she could sense that something was wrong…Shaw must have made contact…

"Chuck!" Sarah called, jogging over to him as he stared at his phone in disbelief. "Was that Shaw?"

"You need to get my father," said Chuck frantically. "Go to Ellie and Devon's apartment. He's there. Tell him to bring one of the Orion laptops, and take him to our secret location in _Barstow_. He should be able to hack through Shaw's codes…"

She stared at him in confusion. Then it dawned on her. It was a code phrase for the next safe house that they had come up with when Castle had been infiltrated by the Ring a few years ago.

"…what's going on, Chuck?" she asked. "Who were you talking to? Was that Shaw?"

"Yeah, Shaw put Cathedral in detention mode using my father's wrist computer," he said, breathing heavily. "He put a bomb in the basement, and there is going to be no way anyone could defuse it! I need you to take my father to the location, and make sure he's able to crack through Shaw's codes, and wait for me there."

"What about you? What are you going to do?"

"I need to talk to Beckman," he said. "I need a Black Ops team…"

"What? Do you know where Shaw is?"

"Yes…"

"Then I'm going with you!" cried Sarah. There was no way she was going to let her husband meet up with the world's most dangerous weapons without her…without knowing he'll be safe…

"No!" She had never heard Chuck speak with such force. "No…I can take care of him. I just need you to help my father, okay? Please!"

She looked into Chuck's eyes, filled with fear, maybe even panic. Why was he being so irrational? If she went with him to get Shaw, then they can force him to defuse the bomb…

"Chuck, I'm going with you," she stated stubbornly.

"It really isn't necessary, Sarah," he said. "I can talk to him. I know what he wants."

"What does he want?"

"Sarah! We really don't have time for this!" Chuck yelled, causing Sarah to step back. "I _need_ you to get to my father, and _help_ him! We're wasting time!"

Glaring at her husband, she realized she had no other choice…

"Fine," she snapped, turning away from Chuck, and sprinting toward the parking lot without looking back.

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**

**Cathedral**

Casey had no idea what the hell was going on. One minute, everything was fine. The next, total chaos. All of the computers were fried, the steel barriers blocked out all the exits, and now, he was staring at 300 pounds of C4, complete with the most complicated wiring that he had ever seen.

As he walked along the giant pile of destruction, he heard footsteps echoing from the stairs of the basement. Drawing his gun out, Casey pointed it toward the stairs, only to see Forrest and Morgan.

"What the hell is that?" cried Morgan, pointing at the bomb.

"That's about 300 pounds of C4, Grimes," replied Forrest. She looked up at Casey. "John…that is the most complicated wiring that I have ever seen…"

"Yeah," Casey grunted, examining the mass of different colored wires. "I'm guessing a lot of these are dummy wires. You snap one, it sets off the next, and then the next, and then, eventually…"

"Boom…" Morgan mumbled. "I've seen something similar to this…"

"What? How? When?" asked Casey. Surely if Morgan had seen a bomb, then Casey would have been there…never in their year and a half of Grimes being on the team, did Grimes actually ever deal with a bomb.

"On _Lost_…"

Casey grunted in frustration.

"No, look," said Morgan, pointing to an antennae, "That's a receiver. Obviously, this means that the bomb isn't on a timer. Someone probably has the detonator. Which means…this must be the power source." Morgan pointed to a metal tube with a flashing green light.

To Casey's surprise, the bearded troll was actually right.

"How do you—?" started Forrest.

"_Lost_, my friend," said Morgan. "And people say that show isn't realistic…"

"Okay, then…what did they do on _Lost_?" asked Casey.

"They froze the power source with liquid nitro…gen…" Morgan looked thoughtful for a moment, and then smiled at Casey. "The Dip N Dots machine!"

"What?"

"The machine has a small liquid nitrogen canister to keep the ice cream cold," Morgan explained. "Casey, do me a solid, and help me tear the canister from the machine. We need to freeze this battery…"

"Grimes, are you out of your mind?" Forrest laughed in disbelief. "Do you honestly think that'll work?"

"We don't have any other choice…"

"What if you set out the bomb?"

"My dear, Forrest," said Morgan, shaking his head. "This battery isn't powering the receiver; it's what triggers the bomb to go off. Without a power source, nothing will be able to detonate it."

"Why can't we just pull the wires from the battery?"

"Because, like Casey said, there are a ton of wires…we don't want to accidentally set off the bomb, do we?"

"Fine," huffed Forrest.

"Right, well, Forrest, you get everyone to the top floor. It's the safest place to be in case this bomb goes off," Casey ordered. "Grimes, let's go get the liquid nitrogen, and hope—" his words were cut off as his phone began to ring. Pulling the phone from his pocket, he saw Sarah's name on the caller ID. "Yeah?"

"Casey, Orion's working on a way to tap the detention security," she said. "He's only been able to unlock the door to the roof access. Get everyone up on the roof…"

"Are you sending choppers in to get us?"

"We can't…Shaw released the virus. Communications are down," replied Sarah. "There are a few grappling hooks in the armory. I want you, Carina, and Forrest to help Morgan, Alex, and the analysts zip-line across to the next building. After you get the analysts out, send them to the NSA facility. As for you, and the rest of the agents, meet me at the location in Barstow."

Although he knew she couldn't see him, he nodded in understanding.

"Right. On it!" said Casey, grabbing Forrest by her arm. "Go to the armory, grab three grappling hooks. You and Carina get everyone up to the roof, and help them zip line across. I'll catch up with you after I help Grimes."

**

* * *

**

"Shaw!" he called when he saw the tall, muscular man waiting by the entrance. Smiling, Shaw shook his head.

"I knew you wouldn't bring her here," said Shaw, _tsk-ing_.

Chuck pulled a pistol from his waistband, and pointed it at Shaw. "Where's the detonator?"

Twisting his face in mock confusion/innocence, Shaw tilted his head. "What detonator? _Oh…_" he snapped his fingers, and pulled out a small remote from his pocket. "_This_ detonator…of course!" Shaw mocked, "Well, if you want it, you're going to have to shoot me. But you and I both know that you won't do that, Chuck. You've never killed a man in your life…I would know."

"Put the detonator on the ground, Shaw," said Chuck, cocking the hammer of the pistol. "If you don't, I _will_ shoot you."

"So shoot me then!" Shaw cried carelessly. Suddenly, the gun felt heavy in his hand, as his arm began to falter.

"_Sir, we've set the perimeter_," a voice rang from the electronic bug in Chuck's ear. The Black Ops leader, Chuck decided.

"Just put the detonator on the ground, and we'll talk. You know you don't want to do this, Shaw…" Chuck pleaded, trying to stop his arm from shaking.

"I could give a rat's ass, to be honest." Shaw shrugged, as he began twirling the detonator around on his finger. "I do _owe_ the CIA for what they've done to me…for what they've done to Eve." Shaw shook his head. "Actually, there are more pressing matters at hand. How about we make a deal?"

"I'm not giving you Sarah," said Chuck harshly.

"Oh, that's a shame…then it looks like you're going to have to shoot me then." The muscular man held his arms out to the side. "I'm going to give you three seconds. You have two choices: either tell me where your wife is, or shoot me. If you don't do either of them, well…I'm going to have to push this here button." His thumb hovered over a plastic, red button.

"One…"

"Just put the detonator down, Shaw! There are innocent people!" Chuck cried.

"Two…"

His finger was on the trigger. All he needed to do was give it a squeeze, and this would all be over. Perspiration began to build on his forehead as the arm holding the gun began to shake violently. He knew what he had to do, yet somehow he couldn't. He promised Sarah and himself that under no circumstances, would he _ever_ kill another human being. But the circumstances here were different…lives were on the line. There _had_ to be another way…

"Shaw, just…please…" he pleaded, aiming the gun down at the ground. "It doesn't have to be like this…"

"Three…" Shaw shook his head, and said, "Yes, it does, Chuck."

As Shaw's thumb made its way to the button, Chuck frantically dove forward, ready to pistol whip Shaw's head. But Shaw quickly flashed, and blocked Chuck's arm. With the force of a semi, he felt Shaw's boot connect to his gut. Launching backwards, his gun flying out of his hand, Chuck crashed back on the pavement, feeling the wind getting knocked out of him. As he struggled to breathe, he saw the larger man pushing firmly down on the detonator. In a rage, Chuck got quickly back up to his feet and charged once more at Shaw. This time, in a fluid motion, Shaw kicked his feet from under him, and as he fell back to the pavement, Shaw's boot was pressing down harshly on his throat.

"I'm giving you twenty-four hours," growled Shaw menacingly, "You either give up your wife, or you can run. If you do run, I _will_ find her. You'll just be delaying the inevitable."

As the image of Shaw's face, twisted in anger, began to blur, Chuck heard a bullet crashing into the wall. Shaw looked up in surprise, releasing his boot from Chuck's throat. Chuck knew that it was from the Black Ops team. As another bullet cracked the brick wall beside Shaw, inches away from his head, Shaw leaned down.

Before he could even grab Shaw, Shaw turned and sprinted away from the bullets.

**

* * *

**

There wasn't nearly enough carabineers for everyone to have their own. There had only been twenty. Casey worked it out so that the heavier set analysts would zip line across the steel cable to the next building first. After them, he, Forrest, and Carina would have to transport the rest, and climb back to the Cathedral roof to take down another group. As he slid down the cable, dropping off the female analyst clinging to his back, Casey quickly made a head count. Twenty-nine analysts...he turned to see Forrest, her legs wrapped around the cable, pulling herself back up to Cathedral.

He brought his watch to his mouth, and spoke. "Grimes, how's it looking down there?"

"I think someone pushed the detonator!" Morgan's voice rang from the watch. "The light on the receiver turned red…at least the nitrogen's working, but…there's not much left."

"Damn it…" Casey mumbled to himself. He turned back to his watch. "How much time do you think we have?"

"Five minutes, tops!"

"Okay, I'm going back to the roof. When I call you, you run your ass up to the roof as quickly as possible!" Casey knew that Grimes would only have a minute at the most to reach the roof…

"Roger that!" replied Morgan, as Casey began to make his way back up to the roof. Suddenly, Morgan's voice rang from his watch again, "Alex? You need to get out of here!"

Casey's legs nearly slipped off the cable, and his heart skipped a beat. Alex was supposed to wait on the roof…

"Alex is down there?" he yelled into the watch. "Grimes, you need to get my dau—receptionist out of there and up to the roof right now! Tell her that's a direct order!"

"You heard the man," said Morgan, presumably to Alex. "Go up to the roof, Alex. It's not safe here."

"What about you?" Casey heard his daughter's voice ringing, as he urged his aching arms to climb faster. Without bothering to listen to Morgan's retort, Casey looked over at the opposite building to look for Carina.

"CARINA!" he boomed, when he saw the redhead unclasping her equipment. She stopped her motions and turned toward Casey. "We have one analyst, Grimes, and Alex left behind! Get your ass back up here!"

Once he saw Carina strapping her gear back on, he made his way back up the rope.

"How much time, Grimes?" he called into his watch.

"Three minutes!"

"Is Alex out of there yet?"

"Alex, you've got to go," Morgan's voice called through the watch. "Seriously, I'll be right behind you, okay?"

"Morgan…" the girl said sadly. "I can't just leave you…"

"I said I'll be fine. Just go, okay? We'll see each other again _really_ soon! I promise!"

As Casey saw Forrest zipping past him, he urged himself to climb faster. "Is she out, Grimes?"

"Yeah," replied Morgan. "I totally felt like Han Solo for a minute! I mean…she just _kissed_ me!"

As hard as it was, Casey chose to ignore the last statement. _Grimes is preventing the bomb from exploding. He just saved my daughter's life. He just saved a lot of lives…_Casey repeated to himself. He finally made it to the roof, to find Alex bursting through the doorway.

"C'mon, Alex," said Casey, attempting to strap a cord on her. She stepped back.

"No!" she cried stubbornly. "I want to wait till Morgan comes out!"

"Look, Alex," Casey sighed. "Grimes is going to make it out okay. See over there?" he pointed at Carina who nearly reached the building. "She'll wait up here for Grimes."

The young girl shook her head.

"Fine," Casey grumbled, silently thinking that if he had been a part of his daughter's life, then he would have spoiled her. "We'll wait for Grimes, then."

He brought his watch back to his mouth. "Grimes…talk to me. How much nitrogen do you have left?"

"I'm almost out," Morgan replied. "Maybe thirty seconds worth."

"Okay, get your ass up here," ordered Casey, walking over to the edge of the roof to pull Carina up. He turned to Alex. "Alex, you heard him, he's on his way. Go back with Carina, and I'll wait up here for Morgan." When she didn't move, Casey growled, "That was an order, young lady!"

"Come on, Shorty," said Carina, walking over to Alex, and strapping a cord around the younger girl. "Casey's going to bring your boyfriend down in just a little bit. He's going to be all right. Let's go."

Casey watched as Carina attached the carabineer to the cable. "Hang on tight," she said to Alex, and they zip lined over to the next building.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Casey's feet began to shake violently. He heard the shattering of the windows along with a deep _boom_, and he knew that the bomb went off. "Grimes!" he yelled into his watch. "Move your ass!"

A pathetic moan emitted from his watch. "Casey…" Morgan groaned. "A beam fell on me…I can't…it's not budging."

"I'm coming to get you," Casey said into his watch.

"No!" Morgan cried. "You'll never reach me in time! The bui—"

Another violent shake and a rumbling noise, and Casey felt the building beginning to crumble as his watch emitted no noise except for static.

"John!" a distant voice rang from behind him. He knew it was Forrest. "You have to get back here! The building's collapsing!"

"GRIMES IS STILL IN THERE!" Casey yelled, "I HAVE TO—"

He felt the ground shift as the building began to lean back. As he turned to run toward the door, he noticed that the cables were about snap.

"Casey…" a weak voice coughed from his watch. "I'm a goner…even if you can magically get here before the building collapses, I'm dead either way."

"What are you talking about, Grimes?" Casey yelled into his watch, keeping a close eye on the cable. He felt himself falling…

"A desk fell on me…my…_chest_…" Morgan coughed. "I'm coughing up…_blood_. Just…"

"Grimes?" he yelled. "Pick up, damn it!"

But it was no use…Casey knew that the noble son of a bitch was dead. Shamefully, he hooked the carabineer to the cable, and quickly zip lined back to the other roof. What he had just done went against everything he had believed in. He had left a soldier behind…

"I'm sorry, Grimes," he mumbled as he watched the collapse of Cathedral, feeling a sharp pang in his chest.

"John…where's Morgan?" asked Alex, stepping up next to him. "He made it, right?"

Casey shook his head, and swallowed a lump in his throat. "He was still in the building when the bomb went off…I'm sorry…"

Another wave of pain shot throughout his chest, as Alex backed away from him with tears in her eyes, and a look of disbelief on her face.

"But…he should have had time…" she whispered.

"Alex…I'm really sorry. Believe me," Casey reassured. As he took a step toward his daughter, he literally felt his lungs deflating as she took another step back, shaking her head. "He did a brave and honorable thing today. He was a good person…a good friend, and I'm…sorry…" _That I never got to tell him that_.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading.****Tynianrex**** sent me a private message guessing that the character death was going to be either Morgan or Forrest. Technically, they guessed right, so you get an internet high five! As for those of you who guessed Stephen Bartowski, that was a good guess, but Shaw doesn't know that he's Orion. To him, Stephen's nothing but a normal guy. Anyway, reviews would be extremely nice! They motivate me to write faster! **


	10. The Death of John Casey

**A/N: If you read the title, you're probably thinking "Seriously? You're killing off another character? Are you on drugs?" Well, I can honestly tell you that, no, I am not on drugs, and no, I'm not killing off another character. Well…technically…oh, you just have to read to find out.**

**I had to split this chapter into two parts, due to it being over 10,000 words. That's just a warning, because there's a section in this chapter that may seem out of place. Oh, in case it comes off as vague, Sarah's flashback takes place about a week after the events in **_**Chuck vs the Marlin**_**.**

**Once again, I thank you all for reading and reviewing, and giving this story here a chance. **

**Oh, in case you were confused by the last chapter, Shaw had already set the bombs in the Cathedral basement during Chuck and Sarah's wedding. I believe I mentioned that in chapter eight…Just thought I should clear that up.**

**

* * *

**

**South Hill Plaza Parking Garage**

**Ten Minutes before the Explosion**

He knew there was no way the Black Ops team would be able to catch Shaw. There was no way they could have. Surely, Shaw had chosen to meet at the mall for a reason: he already had an escape planned out. _I should have just shot him…_

Digging his hand into his pocket, Chuck pulled out his phone. He had ninety seconds to debrief Sarah, and to see whether everyone in Cathedral made it out okay. If he talked longer, then the Ring would be able to pin-point his location. He would have to ditch his phone after this. Luckily, he and Sarah had practiced their ninety second conversations in case they ever were in a situation like this. When Sarah originally suggested that they practice, years ago, Chuck laughed. But now, Chuck was thankful that they had. Taking a deep breath, Chuck pushed the 'send' button, and waited for Sarah's answer.

"Orion was unable to hack through Shaw's coding" Sarah's voice called through the phone. "But he was able to unlock the door to the roof access. Morgan found a way to delay the bomb from detonating. Agents are transporting analysts by zip-lining. Cathedral's nearly completely evacuated. Everyone should be able to get out of there safely."

"Shaw got away. I was unable to shoot him." He spat a bit of blood bitterly to the ground. "Black Ops are attempting to reacquire him as we speak. Is the Barstow safe-house secure?"

"Yes."

"I'll see you there. Destroying the phone." With that, he threw his phone down on the ground with all his might.

As Chuck stumbled into the black, NSA issued GMC Suburban; he immediately began to pry out the built-in GPS from the dashboard. Now that the Ring had control of all of the CIA's resources, they'd most likely be able to track this car. When the damn thing wouldn't budge, he frustratingly pulled his gun from his waistband, and began to slam the piece against the GPS. He felt pieces of glass from the screen embed into his hand, but he didn't care.

Shoving his hand through the broken screen, Chuck blindly felt around for the wires. Threading his fingers around a half dozen wires, he made a fist, and yanked them all out. When he pulled out all of the components, he threw them out of the window. Once again, his hand was scratched by the broken fragments of glass, and once again, he could have cared less. All he cared about was the safety of those inside Cathedral…he knew if anything happened to them, it would be his fault for being a coward…

**

* * *

**

"**Barstow Safe-House" **

**Thirty Minutes after the Explosion**

Sarah paced around the small cottage that she, Chuck, and Casey had all chipped in their own money to use as their safe house about a year ago. They decided to purchase this place about a week after the Ring had somehow managed to sneak into Castle. While they had been able to overpower the Ring operatives that time, they couldn't be so sure that it wouldn't happen again. That's when Chuck came up with the idea to get a safe-house somewhere not too far from Burbank and Los Angeles, and he found this small cottage near Verdugo Mountain Park. It was Sarah's idea to give it the codename, "Barstow Safe-House" if they ever needed to use it in case they were in a compromising situation…such as the one they're in now.

Of course, with Casey being Casey, he convinced them, Chuck and Sarah, to load the cottage up with what he called, "a small cache of weapons." A small cache of weapons to Casey meant an artillery of M4 carbine rifles, a handful of SIG-Sauer P229's for himself, a few Smith & Wesson's for Sarah, Casey's mini-gun, some shotguns, landmines, and grenades. Sarah had to chuckle at the absurdity of it all…after all, while they remembered to gather guns, security equipment, and clothes, they had neglected to bring nonperishable food…

From outside, Sarah heard tires screeching. On alert, she sprinted over to the security monitor to see who had just arrived. The screen showed a black Crown Victoria, and a livid Casey slamming his car door, followed by Alex, Carina, and Forrest. Where was Morgan?

"Hey, Stephen!" Sarah called over to the older man who had been typing furiously away at his computer. "Can you get the door?"

The man nodded, and made his way over to the front door.

"What happened?" asked Sarah when the new arrivals came in.

"All the analysts made it out," said Casey with a solemn look. He paused for a moment, staring at the ground, and for the first time, Sarah saw a look of sadness sketched on his face. "Grimes…" he muttered. "We lost Grimes…"

"What…?" Sarah asked, not believing him. But as she looked upon Carina's uncharacteristic solemn expression and Alex's tear streaked face, she realized that Morgan Grimes was gone…

* * *

**Wienerlicious **

**Early January, 2008**

_She's worked here for four months now, and even still, she feels ridiculous when she wakes up every morning to put her blond hair up in pig tails, and has to wear this ridiculous German beer maid outfit. Honestly, this cover job may be her worst cover yet…and she's had a lot of bad cover jobs in the past…_

_While she hated this job, she didn't complain. After all, it was only a cover job, and she always had Chuck's lunch hour to look forward to. But today was different. Actually, the last few weeks have been different. Ever since she narrowly saved Chuck from being in Fulcrum's captivity, she was colder to him. She had nearly compromised herself…her emotions. She was seconds away from actually shooting a fellow CIA agent, Longshore, just so she could save _him_ from being put in an underground bunker! _

_Chuck is an asset and assets eventually get burned…that's why from here on out, she has to be cold to him. There are bigger things in this world than her feelings for Chuck, and she knew that._

_As Sarah placed a batch of frozen corndogs into the deep fryer, she heard the door jingling. It wasn't Chuck, she knew. They haven't said more than two words to each other that wasn't mission related ever since they had stood out in front of Ellie and Devon's window. _

"Willkommen _to Wienerlicious!" she said airily, not turning away from the deep fryer. "What can I get you for you today?"_

"_How about a bratwurst with extra sauerkraut?" a familiar voice called. She turned and saw a short bearded man with unkempt hair, and let out a sigh. _Morgan…_Chuck had always told her that it takes people awhile to truly appreciate Morgan, but she's known him for four months, and well…he still annoyed her._

"_Hey, Morgan," she said, attempting to sound cheerful (and failing); her smile hadn't quite reached her eyes. "One brat with extra sauerkraut coming right up! So how are you today?"_

"_Oh, I'm good…" replied Morgan, waving a hand. "Actually, while I do enjoy a good hotdog, I'm not exactly here for that."_

"_Oh?" asked Sarah, as she pulled a sausage out from the vat, and held it over the grill. If he wasn't here for a hotdog, there was no point in wasting one if he wasn't going to eat it…_

"_You can throw it on there," he said, gesturing to the grill. Sarah shrugged, and plopped the bratwurst down on the grill. "Actually, I'm here because of Chuck…"_

"_Is he okay?" she asked. If Chuck was in trouble, he would have pushed the panic button on his watch. Plus, Casey was on shift…wait, he's at the BuyMore…not everything in this world is related to the spy world._

"_That's the thing," replied Morgan. "I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me, yellow haired girl."_

"_What do you mean?" asked Sarah, tensing up. But she knew what Morgan meant. She was being a terrible girlfriend, what with avoiding Chuck all the time. It was bad for their cover._

"_Listen," Morgan sighed. "You know about Chuck's ex, Jill, right?"_

"_Right…"_

"_Well, as his best friend, I feel that I have the right to know. Should I be prepared for another one of Chuck's depression episodes?"_

"_Uh…are you asking if Chuck and I are going to break up?" she asked, placing the bratwurst on a hotdog bun, and lathering sauerkraut on top. She wrapped up the hotdog, and handed it to the short, bearded man._

"_Well, yeah. I need to be prepared if you do…I think he's going to be really torn up."_

"_Why would he be?"_

_Morgan looked up at Sarah in disbelief. "Have you seen the way that guy looks at you? I mean, every time you walk into the BuyMore, Chuck's face lights up like he's seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time in his life! Whenever he came home on weekends, sometimes he'd bring Jill. And believe me; he was head over heels for her. But he didn't look at her the way he looks at you…if you guys break up, I have feeling that he's going to be a million times more depressed than he was when Jill dumped him. I need to know, because (a), he's my best friend, and (b), I need to be prepared to help him out of the hole of depression that he's going to dig himself into!"_

_She couldn't help the chuckle from escaping through her lips. _I really doubt Chuck would sink into a depression over me. After all, it was just a cover._ As she thought that, she knew she was lying to herself. It wasn't 'just a cover.' It was so much more…_

"_Listen, Morgan…" Sarah began to wipe the counter with a rag just for something to do. "Chuck and I…" she searched for the right words, "are…just in a rut. We'll be fine."_

"_Really?" he inquired. He took a large bite off his hotdog, and Sarah watched as the sauerkraut began to spill onto the floor. She _just_ mopped the floor less than five minutes ago!_

"_Yes, really," she sighed. If she broke up with Chuck, then Graham would most likely kick her off of this assignment, and she would never be able to see Chuck again._

"_Good, because I was worried for awhile." Morgan's beard was covered with bits of bread and sauerkraut, so Sarah handed him a napkin. Instead of wiping his face, he wiped a bit of grease off his fingers. "Thanks. Yeah…but anyway. I mean, Chuck doesn't admit it, but I think he's scared…"_

"_Scared of what?"_

_Morgan shrugged. "You, I guess." Sarah raised an eyebrow._

"_Why would he be scared of me?" _

"_Well…think about it," said Morgan, rolling his eyes. "Nearly everyone that he's loved in his life left him—his parents, Jill—and even if he won't admit it, Chuck loves you. He's afraid that you're going to leave him."_

_An agonizing discomfort filled her heart._

"_Chuck's lucky to have a friend like you," she finally said after what felt like hours of silence. "Looking out for him, I mean…" Morgan gave her a friendly smile and waved her comment off._

"_He'd do the same for me," said Morgan. "I meant to say this to you a couple of weeks ago, but you've been avoiding the BuyMore. Well, I wanted to say thank you."_

"_Why are you thanking me?" asked Sarah, surprised._

"_Why wouldn't I be?" asked Morgan rhetorically. "Ever since you came along, Chuck's been…_Chuck_ again. He's smiling a lot more, cracking jokes; he's getting his mojo back. It's all thanks to you, Sarah. Chuck's _very_ lucky to have a girlfriend like you."_

_She didn't know what to say, because that last statement from Morgan was far from the truth. Chuck deserved so much better than her. _

"_You don't have to make stuff up…" she mumbled._

"_Who says I'm making it up? I'm serious! Chuck's a lucky man, Sarah! I mean, you're hot, you're smart, and that makes me wonder why you're working here." He gestured around the restaurant, and Sarah gave an airy shrug in response. "You're _really_ cool despite the fact you don't play video games, and you're constantly offering support for Chuck!" Morgan gave her a grin, and said, "Well, I should get back to work. It was nice talking to you!"_

"_Yeah, you too," she said, watching as Morgan began to make his way toward the door. "Hey, Morgan!" she called._

"_Yeah?"_

"_Is Chuck on his break?"_

"_He is, actually. He decided to just hang out in the break room for today…"_

_Sarah gave him a smile. "Do you think you can sneak me into the break room?"_

"_Of course! You don't even have to sneak in…Big Mike's in his donut coma, and no one else is going to care…" Morgan rambled. "Well, c'mon then! Let's go!"_

_Chuckling, Sarah locked up the register, switched off the fryers, and leapt over the counter. "Thanks, Morgan." _

_She had to admit, Morgan was finally growing on her…_

**

* * *

**

Chuck stepped out of the Suburban, and into the brisk air. He made his way over to the small cottage, and before he could find his key to unlock the door, it swung open, revealing Casey—his face twisted in anger. Casey grabbed Chuck roughly by his shirt, and pulled him inside. Stumbling into the cottage, Chuck turned to face Casey.

"What's your problem, man?" he demanded, his eyes dropping from Casey's glare, as he searched for Sarah. The small cottage felt extremely warm. It wasn't surprising, seeing as the small space was crowded with seven people. When his eyes landed on Sarah, looking grief-stricken, he stepped up, ready to offer her comfort. However, as he began to move forward, Casey's voice shook the room.

"Why didn't you shoot Shaw, Chuck?" he demanded, looking irate. Chuck's mouth bobbed up and down as he searched for an excuse. _Because I'm a coward_, he wanted to say. But Casey didn't wait for his answer. "From what I understand, you had the chance to shoot Shaw, and you didn't take it!"

"Casey, I—" Chuck fell back as Casey's fist collided with his face. Another wave of pain shot through his head as it collided with the hard, wooden floor. He heard a shuffling of footsteps, followed by a series of Casey's grunts.

"Stand down, Casey!" Sarah screamed. Chuck looked up from the ground to see Sarah, Carina, Alex, and Forrest all attempting Casey from advancing on him. And then it hit him…_where was Morgan?_

It was as if Casey read his mind, as he began to bellow, "Grimes is dead, and it's because you didn't take the shot! You fucking coward!" Casey tore through the women holding him back.

Although he knew that Casey's punches were landing on his face, he didn't feel them. All he felt was the excruciating pain in his chest…

Once again, everyone in the room, his father included, pulled Casey off of him.

"Fucking coward…" Casey spat, shaking the hands holding him off.

He felt the accusatory glares coming from Carina, Forrest, and Alex; and the sympathetic looks from Sarah and his father, but he couldn't bear to meet anyone's gazes. Instead, he focused on the ground—the burning in his eyes indicating tears of sorrow and regret from knowing that he had just killed his best friend…

* * *

**Encino, CA **

**1990**

_A small boy sat, curled into a corner letting tears fall freely down his face. In his hands, he held a picture of himself; leaning into a friendly faced, brunette woman. Less than twenty-four hours ago, that woman had left his life, and he blamed himself. After all, he did break her favorite necklace. He could never forget the pained look on his mother's face as he tried to explain to her that it was an accident, and that he had tried his very best to try to fix it. _

_A knock from his door echoed across the room. Looking up, and wiping his eyes with a free hand, he looked up. The door opened slowly, and eventually revealed his friend._

"_Hey, Chuck," smiled Morgan. "You weren't at school today. How come?"_

_Chuck didn't say anything. Instead, he looked back down at the ground. _

"_What's wrong, buddy?" asked the smaller boy, sitting down next to him. "Are you sick? Is that why you didn't come to school today?"_

_Chuck shook his head. From the corner of his eye, he saw Morgan studying him with a concerned expression._

"_No…" gasped Morgan, quickly standing up and heading toward Chuck's toy chest. "Did someone steal Optimus?"_

_The smaller boy began digging through a toy box, and breathed a sigh of relief as his fingers wrapped around a blue and red robot action figure. _

"_Thank Yoda…" said Morgan, breathing a sigh of relief. He knew that Optimus Prime was Chuck's most prized possession. "Well, if it isn't Optimus…is something else missing?"_

_Chuck nodded. "My mom left last night…"_

"_Oh…"_

_Morgan looked around, looking for something to distract his friend with. Without a word, he turned and left the room. Minutes later, Chuck saw him walking back into the room, carrying a plate of cherry cheesecake and two forks._

"_C'mon, buddy," Morgan smiled encouragingly, as he handed Chuck a fork. "It's Friday! You know what that means, don't you? Cherry cheesecake and _The Legend of Zelda_!" Morgan set the plate down, and walked over to the Nintendo to turn it on. As he walked back next to Chuck, he handed him the controller. "You can go first!" _

_For the next eight hours, Chuck was able to shove aside the feeling of abandonment as he laughed at Morgan cracking jokes, his thumbs sore from hours of playing _Zelda_, his stomach close to bursting from the cherry cheesecake…for those eight hours, he was just able to have fun and feel safe again…_

**

* * *

**

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, or maybe days, Chuck didn't know how much time had passed. He didn't care. As Casey, his father, Carina, and Forrest were in the small dining room, discussing what their next move should be, Chuck sat squeezed into a corner. Sarah sat by his side, her arm over his hunched shoulders. He didn't deserve to feel comforted by her, but aside from the crushing guilt, he felt warmth as Sarah would gently rub his back…he felt comfort. At that, he just felt selfish, because while he should just push her away, so that he could grieve alone. But he didn't want to be alone.

Alex sat in a corner opposite from Chuck; her eyes wide from shock, staring at nothing but the ground. At the sight of her, he felt another wave of grief and guilt. It was rare for…anyone, really, to give Morgan a chance upon the first moment they had met him. But Alex _did_ give him a chance, and it felt as though Chuck was denying Morgan from something special. He was denying Alex something special…

The sound of heavy footsteps coming closer drew Chuck out of his thoughts. As a large shadow loomed over him, he looked up to see Casey's silhouette. Although he couldn't see the man's face, he knew that Casey was scowling.

"Casey," Sarah said warningly, attempting to get up off of the floor. Before she could, Chuck grabbed her wrist.

"It's okay." Those had been the first words he had said since he found out about Morgan, and the words came out in a monotonous tone. "Whatever Casey does, I deserve it…"

"I'm not going to kick your ass again, Bartowski," Casey grunted, handing Chuck a flask filled with scotch—Johnny Walker Black. "I just want to talk." Casey looked at Sarah, and nodded toward Alex. "You want to talk to her?"

"Yeah," said Sarah, giving Chuck's shoulder another squeeze, as she got up and moved across the small room where Alex was. Staring blankly at the flask, Chuck saw Casey taking a seat against the wall from the corner of his eye.

"Drink," Casey ordered. After Chuck had shot down the drink, he handed the flask back to Casey. "Listen…I was out of line before—"

"No," Chuck mumbled. "I deserved that…" Casey gave a grunt, and shook his head.

"Did I ever tell you about my first my first year as a marine?" asked Casey.

"No…"

"Awhile back, after I graduated high school, a buddy of mine and I joined the Marines." Casey screwed the lid back on the flask, and threw it aside; a dull clunk echoed through the room. "Me and him…man, we've been friends since we were little kids. He was my best friend." Chuck glanced over at Casey who was just staring straight ahead. "After we joined, we went through basic and what not, I became a sniper, and he was infantry. After our training, we were sent out to Beirut.

"We were in the city, guarding our barracks. He was on the ground; I was up in a bird's nest, keeping an eye out. One day, a man who I thought was a civilian approached my friend. To be safe, I kept my aim on the civilian, but everything seemed okay. Then I saw that the guy had a hand on his gun…I don't know if he was a rebel or what." Casey reached over to the flask, and took another sip of scotch before he continued.

"I knew what I had to do. I had to shoot the bastard," he said. "But I couldn't pull the damn trigger. I don't know why…I still don't. I guess it's because at the time, I never killed anyone. Yeah, the Corp. teaches you how to have that killer instinct, but when it actually comes down to it, it's hard. There's no way anyone could teach that…" Casey sighed. "Anyway, I didn't pull the trigger…and my friend got shot. And it was all because I couldn't shoot the other bastard…"

Chuck watched as Casey tilted his head back, draining out the scotch from the flask.

"After that, I was a changed man. I trained harder, I was colder to everyone, and I was determined not to ever let something like that happen again," Casey continued. "I told myself that I needed to kill…I needed to get back at those fuckers who killed my friend. Then they attacked the barracks…I was up in the bird's nest again, and I got my first kill. I got the pink mist…

"Let me tell you something, Bartowski, the shit I went through after my buddy died was nothing compared to the shit I went through after seeing a man drop dead because of what I did…" Casey's jaws clenched as he began to flex his fingers. "I changed a lot after that…lost more friends because I had changed so much; I even lost my family because I pushed them all away. And that's why I campaigned so hard against your red test."

"What do you mean?" asked Chuck.

"Shit…" Casey mumbled, chuckling. "You have all your friends, your sister…hell, even Sarah. You're a good kid, and if you _did_ take that red test, then…you would have changed. And not for the better. You would start pushing away the people in your life, like I did. And like me, you would have pushed away everyone that's important to you. So that's why I never let you carry around a real gun, Bartowski. I didn't want you to go through that. Neither did Sarah."

Chuck didn't know what to say. Yes, he was grateful, but at the same time, he wasn't. He was a good spy, but he remembered always feeling as though Sarah and Casey had held him back from reaching his potential. But he can't _really_ blame them for that. After all, their job used to be to protect him, and they just got used to looking out for him…

"But maybe I was too soft on you," said Casey, as though he were reading Chuck's mind. "At the least, I should have prepared you for it…let you know that there comes a time in any spy's life where they'll have to make the kill, and when the time comes, they'll never be the same again. And I'm sorry I never told you that, because…well…you had to learn it the hard way." Casey paused, allowing the words to sink in. After a few seconds, he asked, "You know what you may have to do, right?"

Chuck nodded. "I may have to kill Shaw the next time I see him. Yeah…"

"That's right…we don't know what Shaw's after, but we do know that he doesn't give a shit for other peoples' lives," said Casey. "And men like Shaw…well, they deserve what's coming for them..."

"I know what he's after," Chuck mumbled. Casey raised an eyebrow. "He's after Sarah. She's the agent who killed his wife six years ago."

"Christ…" Casey groaned, bringing a hand up to his forehead.

"I don't know if I can tell Sarah though," said Chuck, feeling ashamed—feeling cowardly. "I hate keeping her in the dark, but I know how she is, and she'll blame herself for everything that happened today. She'll just go straight to Shaw, and…I can't lose her too…"

Casey just nodded. "I know…no one wants to lose her, Chuck. She's a good agent, and a better person. I'll help you protect her."

"Thanks," Chuck said gratefully. For awhile, neither man spoke. Many things ran through Chuck's mind: Morgan's death, Sarah's wellbeing, Casey's friend…

"Casey?" he asked, breaking the silence. The colonel glanced over at Chuck.

"What?"

"What was your friend's name?"

Casey didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stood up, and pulled a cigar out from the inner pocket of his jacket. "Let's talk outside," he said, nodding pointedly at the door. Chuck rose to his feet, and followed Casey outside, waiting for him to light his cigar.

"His name was John Casey," Casey finally said, licking his lips.

Chuck stared at him in confusion. "What…? But that's _your_ name…" Casey shook his head.

"The man that got me into the NSA, Colonel James Keller, he was there in Beirut…in charge of our unit." Casey paused to take a long drag from his cigar. "He wasn't happy with me after I couldn't take the shot. Always held it against me. Years later, he asked me to join the NSA, but told me that I needed a new name. He chose John Casey…I guess it was a reminder for me to not hesitate. My real name's…Alex Coburn."

_Alex Coburn_? Where had Chuck heard that name…? Alex Coburn…Chuck's mouth dropped open in shock. He had read it in Alex's file! "You're…you're Alex's dad?" he whispered. "Does she know?"

"I didn't even know that I had a daughter till I read her file," said Casey. "So no, she doesn't know. And she _can't_ know."

"But, Casey—"

"She's lived her whole life thinking that her father died for his country. Imagine how she'd react if she found out that her father's a liar."

"I don't know about her, but I remember when _my_ dad left. I always thought he left because he was a coward, but it turns out he wasn't," said Chuck. "When I found out that he left to protect Ellie and me, well…I didn't think he was a coward. In fact, I thought he was pretty noble."

"It's different."

"Is it?" Chuck challenged.

"We have bigger problems to worry about, kid," said Casey. "How are we going to get Shaw?"

"The 3.0's made him nearly invincible. Even the five of us all working together won't stand a chance against him.

We have two choices: we wait a couple of years until the 3.0 causes his brain to hemorrhage, but that's hardly a choice. We both know that Shaw will kill anyone to get to Sarah. The last thing we need is more innocent blood spilled."

"Right…what's the second choice?"

"The second choice is…" Chuck swallowed, but his mind had been made up ever since he had heard Morgan had died. "…that _I _download the 3.0..."

* * *

**A/N: Uh-oh…**

**Once again, thank you for reading…I hope this chapter gets a better response than the last. Oh, the next chapter should be posted soon…I still have some kinks to work out.**

**Some stuff to look forward to in the next chapter: Sarah and Alex's conversation (originally supposed to be in this chapter), a new mission plan, and a new objective.**

**Oh, and bad-ass, ass kicking Sarah shall return…**


	11. When Sarah OutNerds Chuck

**A/N:** Thank you guys for still reading this story and leaving reviews! Um…there's not much to say about this chapter…I did have fun writing it though. There's some angst, some humor (hopefully), some romance, and a little bit of action thrown in this chapter. I hope you guys like it!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Chuck…if only I did, though…

* * *

Casey nodded pointedly toward the small girl, huddled in her own corner. "You want to talk to her?"

"Yeah," she replied. To be honest, she didn't want to leave her husband's side, but she gave her husband's shoulder a squeeze, and made her way over to Alex. The girl didn't look up. Instead, she just gazed straight ahead, tears still streaming down her face. Clearing her throat, Sarah asked, "Do you mind if I sit?"

The girl didn't respond. Feeling uneasy, Sarah glanced back over at Chuck and Casey. Already, they were in a deep conversation…at least Casey was, anyway. Letting out a breath, Sarah sat down next to Alex. Minutes went by, and neither woman said a word. Sarah watched as Casey spoke to Chuck. She couldn't hear what he was saying, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't read Casey's lips as he barely moved them when he spoke.

"We were going to have a _Star Wars_ marathon." Sarah turned away from Casey, and turned to Alex who was still staring straight ahead. "Morgan and me. It wasn't supposed to be until this Saturday, but…I went out yesterday, and bought a six-pack of grape soda for him." Alex chuckled to herself, and shook her head. "I've never been that kind of girl, you know? The ones that actually look forward to dates or just hanging out with some guy, or whatever, but with Morgan, well…"

"I know what you mean," said Sarah, smiling slightly. "I was the same way…"

"I just can't believe something like this would happen…" Alex murmured. "I knew this business was dangerous, but I didn't know it was _this_ dangerous."

"I've been with the CIA since I was seventeen," said Sarah. "God, has it been thirteen years already?" Time sure did fly. "Anyway, something I learned in those thirteen years is that once you think you understand how things work, something always comes up to surprise you."

Alex just nodded, and looked over at Sarah. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure, shoot."

"I think it's my fault that Morgan died…"

Sarah raised her eyebrows, and scowled. "Hey!" she said sternly. "Why would you even think that? It's not your fault that he died…"

Alex shook her head, as more tears formed in her eyes. "It is…he would have made it out of there in time if I had just listened to him. I was downstairs with him, and we were arguing. He wanted me to get up to the roof, but I didn't want to leave him. If I just went when he told me, there would have been enough liquid nitrogen to buy him some time to get up to the roof. Casey was already up there, and Carina was on her way... If I listened to him, and left, then he would have made it up to the roof on time…"

"You can't blame yourself," Sarah sighed. "I know how you're feeling, but I swear, Alex, it's not your fault that Morgan died. You wanted to make sure that someone you cared deeply about was going to be okay. You're not the one who put those bombs in the basement. So quit blaming yourself, Alex. That's an order." Sarah smiled encouragingly at the girl. "Seriously, it's not your fault. Morgan…he's always tried to help people. That's just how he was made. And he wouldn't want you to think that it's your fault that he died when it clearly wasn't."

Alex wiped her eyes with her hands, but she didn't say anything.

"Listen," Sarah sighed. "Shaw's to blame…and I promise you, we're going to get him no matter what." She placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. "In the morning, one of us will take you back to your home. You don't need to be here. But I promise you, we're going to get Shaw."

"I'm not going home," Alex protested, shaking her head stubbornly. "I'm going to stay and fight." Sarah opened her mouth to argue, but Alex continued, "You said so yourself. I'm ready to be a spy."

"That may be so, Alex," said Sarah. "But you're going to make this personal—"

"Oh, and you, Chuck, and Casey aren't?" the girl scoffed. "This whole thing with Shaw and the Ring is personal, Sarah. And if you think I'm going to leave quietly, well…that's not going to happen."

"Okay, this _is_ personal," Sarah said, resting her hand on the bridge of her nose. "But Chuck, Casey, Carina, Forrest, and I have been agents for a long time. We all know when to shove our personal matters aside." Sure, it took Chuck quite awhile to shove his feelings aside, but nonetheless, he still learned. She looked directly into Alex's eyes. "Besides, this is too dangerous for you. You're not ready for something like this."

"I'm not leaving." Alex glared at Sarah, crossing her arms. "You guys need all the help you can get. Do you really think you can take Shaw _and_ the Ring, who are most likely in control of the CIA and NSA, with only five agents? I'm staying."

Sarah, feeling exhausted, stared at Alex pitifully. Alex didn't back down. She continued to glare at Sarah.

"Fine," Sarah sighed.

* * *

"The second choice is…that _I_ download the 3.0…" said Chuck. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt a hard, stinging smack on the back of his head.

"Are you an idiot, Bartowski?" Casey demanded, his face turning beet red. "If you do that, you're a dead man. The 2.0 nearly killed you, or did you forget that?"

Chuck rubbed the back of his head to try to ease the stinging. It didn't help. "I can handle it, Casey."

"Nope," said Casey, shaking his head. "I'll kill you myself before you can."

"I _have_ to, Casey," said Chuck. "It's the only way we can actually stand a chance against Shaw."

"You _are_ an idiot," muttered Casey. "There are other ways we can stop him. We just have to be smart. You can outsmart him, Bartowski…without the Intersect."

"Well, what do you suggest, then?" asked Chuck, sounding irritated, seeing as his head was still stinging. "Because whether I download the 3.0 or not, we're going to have to break into the Intersect compound to destroy the Intersect."

"I thought you were the only one with access to it…"

"I am for now," said Chuck. "But assuming the Ring has taken over the CIA and NSA, I wouldn't be surprised if they've got scientists and engineers who are trying to get past the codes to get into the vault right now. It's only a matter of time before they do, and _when_ they get that vault opened, then we're going to be in trouble."

"But not everyone can download it," Casey reminded.

"Casey, I'm fairly positive that they've been planning this for awhile," said Chuck, as Casey nodded. "They probably have lined up a bunch of candidates for the download."

"Right…" Casey muttered, flicking away his cigar. "Looks like we're going to have to come up with a plan. Actually, you think your old man can still control that predator? We might as well just bomb the crap out of the building…"

Chuck shook his head. There were so many things wrong with that statement; the first of which was the fact that the Intersect compound was located in a highly populated area which meant that there was a high possibility that many innocent civilians would be injured.

"We're going to have to break in the old fashioned way," said Chuck. "But before we destroy it, we need to make a copy."

"Why?"

"We could use the intel," Chuck replied. "I mean, think about it, the 3.0 most likely has a bunch of stuff we could use against the Ring."

"Could we do that without someone downloading the Intersect into their head?" Casey asked skeptically.

"I'm pretty sure we could," Chuck replied. "I mean, what were they using the Intersect for before Bryce sent it to me?"

"Good point," said Casey. "So after that, we use the intel to take out the Ring higher ups…"

"Right. Then the proper people can take over the CIA and NSA again," Chuck finished.

"And Shaw?"

Chuck felt a surge of anger rush through his veins. "If we see him," he said darkly, "We kill him."

**

* * *

**

For the last three hours, everyone sat around the dining room table, planning out their mission. There had been a few arguments, mainly between Forrest and Carina; both agents unhappy with the fact that they'd be teamed up. Sarah found it odd that Casey would want to partner up with a rookie, Alex, but she didn't think that now was the time to let something trivial bother her. As usual, Sarah and Chuck were teaming up, and they would be the ones to break into the vault when the time came.

Chuck had remained silent for most of the planning. He sat still, his hands folded on top of the table, and his eyes glaring down at them. Sarah wanted nothing more than to comfort him, but in all honesty, she didn't know where she would even begin. She had never seen Chuck looking so…_hopeless_.

"So after the two of you break into the vault," said Stephen to Sarah and Chuck, handing her something that looked like a flash drive, "Just link that up to the Intersect, and it'll send all the data to my laptop."

"How long is that going to take?" asked Sarah.

"Three to five minutes," he replied, turning to Casey. "You think you can hold the guards off for that long?"

Casey snorted. "Piece of cake."

"Right, well," began Stephen, getting up out of his chair, "I'm going to go back to my cabin. Ellie and Devon are probably waiting for me."

At that statement, Chuck finally looked up in surprise, and smacked his palm to his forehead. "Ellie and Devon…" he murmured. "God, I can't believe I forgot about them…"

"It's all right, son, they're both safe at the cabin," said Stephen, placing a hand on Chuck's shoulder. "I made them go straight to my cabin as soon as Sarah contacted me. They'll be fine. Get some rest, Charles. You've had a hard day…" As Chuck nodded to his father, Stephen turned to the table. "Well, I have room for two more at my cabin. I don't think there's enough room here for everyone to sleep…"

"Alex and Carina can go," said Forrest.

"Actually," Casey interjected. "How about you and Carina go? The two of you have to get some supplies in the morning anyway, and the Bartowski's and I have some other stuff to do before the mission. It's more efficient that way, don't you think?"

Forrest glared up at Casey, causing his face to burn red.

"It's okay, Grumpy," Carina piped up, putting an arm around Forrest's shoulder, "I don't bite."

"Let go of me," Forrest snapped, shaking Carina away. She glared back at Casey. "See you tomorrow, then, _Colonel_," she said coldly, turning away to walk out of the door. Carina gave Sarah a sly smile, and followed.

"Well, guys," said Stephen, pulling on his jacket. "I'll see you all tomorrow. Good night, Charles."

"Night, dad…" Chuck mumbled. Sarah stood up off her chair to bid Stephen farewell. The man stepped forward, and gave her a hug.

"Take care of him for me," Stephen mumbled into her ear.

"I'll do my best," she replied, releasing the hug. With another wave, Sarah watched as Stephen left the cottage. She turned to Chuck, and gently took his hand, avoiding the scrapes from earlier. "C'mon, sweetie," she said softly. "Let's get some sleep." As Chuck slowly lifted himself up from his chair, Sarah turned to Casey and Alex. "See you two in the morning."

"Yeah," said Casey.

"Good night, Sarah…" said Alex. "Night, Chuck…"

"Night, guys," Chuck mumbled, letting Sarah lead the way to their room. Suddenly, while Casey was trying to persuade Alex to take the bed and he'd take the couch for the night, she felt a pull on her hand. Chuck stopped, and turned to face Casey. "Hey, Casey?"

The colonel stopped mid-sentence, and turned to Chuck; a questionable look on his face.

"Thanks," said Chuck. "For earlier…"

"No problem, Chuck," Casey smiled, "Get some shut-eye, kid. Big day tomorrow…"

"Yeah…"

He turned back, and made his way toward the bedroom, leaving Sarah curious as to what Chuck and Casey had talked about earlier. But she wouldn't pry.

"Chuck?" Sarah called out in the darkness after they had gotten ready for bed. She felt around the bed for Chuck's arm, and pulled it over her, so that Chuck would face her.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember the night before you met Carina for the first time?" she asked, "You know…when we played that silly Newly Wed game with Ellie and Devon?"

"Yeah…what about it?"

Hesitating, Sarah let out a breath. "Morgan totally kicked my ass that night…" she said, hoping with all her might that it was the right thing to say. Seconds passed, and just as she was getting ready to apologize for bringing Morgan up, Chuck began to laugh.

"Remember how he listed my favorite ice cream flavors in descending order?" he asked, gasping for air from laughing. Sarah began to laugh as well.

"He actually made me memorize them…" she admitted. "A couple of days later. He told me, 'I _refuse_ to let Chuck date someone who doesn't even know what his favorite ice cream flavors are!' And he even wrote up an exam and everything…"

Chuck let out another laugh.

"Yeah," she continued. "You should have seen the questions! There were questions like, 'When playing _Super Metroid_ does Charles Irving Bartowski prefer butter toffee or chocolate chip cookie dough?'"

"And what did you say?"

"Butter toffee…that was a given," Sarah smiled. She wrapped her arms tighter around her husband, pulling him closer to her. "He was a good guy…" she whispered into his ear.

"I miss him, Sarah…" said Chuck, his voice cracking.

"I know, baby…" Sarah cooed, clutching onto Chuck tightly as he began to shudder. "I miss him too."

A sob escaped her husband's throat as his body began to shudder uncontrollably. As Sarah rubbed circles across Chuck's back, she began to feel her eyes brimming with tears…

**

* * *

**

**Echo Park Apartment Complex**

"Seems secure," said Casey, parking the Vic by the curb.

"Yep," said Chuck, gazing out the window. "It sure does…"

"You guys go first, Alex and I will keep watch."

Chuck and Sarah nodded, and quickly stepped out of the vehicle. They both looked around, checking for any sign of enemy operatives as they quickly walked across the courtyard. Sarah quickly pulled out her keys, and opened the door to their apartment. She was greeted with the sight of upturned chairs and couches. Their dishes were strewn across the kitchen floor. Sarah pulled her gun out from her waistband, Chuck imitated her movements as they quietly skimmed around the apartment looking for any possible threats.

"Clear," said Chuck as he checked the spare bedroom.

"Your computer's missing," said Sarah, poking her head out from their old bedroom. Chuck shrugged.

"There wasn't anything important in there aside from games and music," he said. "And even if there _was_ something important, no one could get past my security."

She gave him a grin as he walked into the bedroom.

"The Ring might have put tracking devices on our things," said Sarah, as she and Chuck pulled their bed off the frame.

"I'll be sure to double check everything." Chuck let out a groan as he propped the mattress against the wall. Sarah nodded as she stepped inside the frame, and pulled a pocket knife from her pocket. Carefully, she tore around the carpet with her knife and gave it a hard tug, revealing a safe.

"And you told me this was a stupid idea," she teased, nudging at the safe.

"Well, it seems I owe you an apology," Chuck smiled crookedly, watching Sarah flip the combination dial. A few seconds later, she pulled open the safe, revealing a large case of her knives, some extra ammunition, and about 150,000 dollars. Sarah pulled out her case of knives and opened it, revealing two dozen of her throwing knives. Chuck watched as Sarah smiled, and pulled a knife out of the case, giving it a fancy twirl around her fingers.

"Hey, babies…I'm sorry I kept you guys cooped up in there for so long…" she lovingly mumbled. She felt Chuck's smile radiating from behind her. "Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything!" Chuck cried, holding his hands out in an innocent gesture as he knelt down beside her. He grunted as he pulled the bag of money from the safe. Tearing the plastic wrapping around the large block of money, he began to shuffle through the stacks.

"What are you doing?" asked Sarah.

"Making sure they didn't put a tracking device in the money," he replied, shuffling through more stacks.

"Do you really think they would take the time to reupholster the carpet?" Sarah scoffed.

"You never know," said Chuck, shrugging. "They could have deliberately made a mess in here to make it look like it was a quick in and out. You know…give us a sense of security or whatever…aha!" He pulled a wad of money out from the stack, and held it out to Sarah. She took it, and saw that underneath a few hundred dollar bills, there was a green box containing a GPS device.

"Touché," she smiled, as she placed the device back in the safe. She began to help Chuck shuffle through the money, but they didn't find any more tracking devices.

"We should leave the ammo here," said Chuck. "We don't have time to—"

Sarah held up a hand, and got back up to her feet. She walked across the room to the radio, and turned it on, filling the room with an old Depeche Mode song. She held up the speaker. "Bring my knives and the ammo over here."

Chuck gave her a confused look, and before she could say anything, he smiled knowingly. "Oh, the old static trick…if there was a tracker, then the speaker would emit static…" he chuckled. "You out-nerded me!"

"I knew I could do it sooner or later," Sarah smiled, holding the speaker at an angle as Chuck scanned the ammunition and her case of knives.

"You know," said Chuck, making his way back over to the stack of money so they could double check for a tracking device. "We could have saved a lot of time if you remembered this earlier…"

"Hey," Sarah scowled playfully at Chuck, "You're supposed to be the nerdy one, remember?"

"Yeah, well…" Chuck began to pack the money and the ammunition into a large duffel bag. He straightened up with a defeated look on his face, causing Sarah to grin widely. "You win this round, Blondie…"

"That's right," Sarah huffed, picking her case up off the ground. "We should go to a chop shop, and get some new cars…" she said as they walked back toward Casey's Vic.

"Do you know any chop shops around here?"

"Of course I do," she smiled. "Back in the day, I had an escape route planned out for us in case they wanted to throw you into a bunker. I found a chop shop about forty minutes away from here…"

Chuck raised an eyebrow at Sarah, looking impressed. "My, my, Sarah…you sure know how to make a boy blush." His smile faded. "Wait, how come you forgot about that when we ran away to Barstow?"

"I was in a rush," she said lamely, nodding to Casey as he popped open the trunk. She placed the case of knives down, and helped Chuck straighten out the duffel bag into the trunk. "Didn't have time to think," she finished.

"Think about what?" asked Casey. Sarah shook her head.

"Nothing," replied Sarah. Casey rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, Alex," he said, making his way to his apartment.

"Casey!" Chuck called. "The Ring might have put tracking devices on your things. Turn on the radio, and hold up everything to the speakers. If there's static, then it's bugged."

"Got it," Casey called, disappearing into the courtyard.

Sarah closed the trunk of the car, and leaned against it. She smiled as she held out her arms to Chuck. He gave a smile in return, and stepped toward her, feeling her arms wrapping around him. She gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"So…about tonight," said Chuck, looking into her blue eyes. "Should I take a gun, gun with me, or…should I just stick to my tranque pistols?"

Sarah bit down on her lower lip, before she replied, "It's up to you, Chuck…"

Chuck studied her expression. While she tried to look nonchalant, he could tell that just the idea of him shooting people dead scared her. So he let his lips curve into a smile as he said, "Actually, I think I'll just bring the tranque guns. I mean, I'm more used to them, you know? I mean, most of the stuff I do is based off muscle memory anyway…"

He saw Sarah give a slight look of relief as she smiled up at him. "Yeah…less kick…lighter…"

"Yep," he agreed. "Actually, I think Alex should take some tranque guns as well. We don't want her freezing up on us tonight if she kills someone…"

Sarah nodded. "Good point."

For the next couple of minutes, they stood wrapped up into each other in silence. Chuck breathed in the sweet smell of Sarah's hair as she rested her head against his shoulder. He felt her breath tickling his neck. It was almost perfect. Sarah was perfect…he wasn't going to let anyone take her away. He was going to do everything in his power to keep her alive.

Chuck leaned back a bit, causing Sarah to look up at him.

"I love you," he smiled, brushing back a stray hair behind her ear, and placing his hand just below it.

"I love you too," Sarah said softly, looking into his eyes, and letting them close slowly as he pulled her into a kiss.

**

* * *

**

Casey parked the van that Sarah and Chuck had purchased from the chop shop two blocks away from the Intersect compound, and made his way to the backseats. Sarah and all of the other agents were dressed in black tactical suits, each equipped with Kevlar lining. Carina had somehow gotten a hold of these suits…exactly how she did it, Sarah didn't want to know. Although the suits wouldn't be able to stop a straight shot bullet, at the very least, they'd be protected from fatal injuries…

"Okay," Sarah said, once Casey had settled in. She handed him and Alex two night vision goggles. "Let's run through the plan again."

Carina rolled her eyes, and said, "Forrest and I go first. I go in through the front—"

"And I enter in the back," Forrest finished.

"That's what she said," Alex said, causing Forrest to shoot her a death glare. The girl raised her eyebrows. "Actually, that's what _he_ said. Okay, I'm sorry. I make inappropriate jokes when I'm nervous…"

Casey, to everyone's surprise, began to laugh.

"Oh, I like her," Carina giggled.

Casey took a deep breath to stop his laughter, and patted Alex on the back. "You have nothing to be nervous about, I've got your back."

"Anyway…" said Sarah, snapping everyone back to the moment.

"We open fire so the guards can hear us," said Forrest, "Then we high tail it out of there."

"Hopefully, most of those bastards in there will follow us," Carina added.

"Then we rendezvous in the alley three blocks away," said Forrest. Sarah nodded.

"Before that, Chuck and I will set up some mines in the alleyway, and leave the manhole cover opened," said Sarah. "When you two get into the sewer, you detonate the mines."

"Then Sarah and I will climb up to the roof of the building across from the facility," said Chuck. "And we wait for the mines to go off…"

"That's when Casey and I go in," said Alex. "And distract the rest of the guards."

"When Charles and Sarah zip line across to the facility, I shut off the power," said Stephen. "I'll give you and Casey a thirty second warning. Be sure you both have your goggles on. It's going to be pitch-black in there."

"Right, right," Casey groaned. Sarah didn't blame them. This must have been the hundredth time they had run through the plan, but everything had to go down perfectly.

"When Sarah and I get to the vault, Dad will turn the power back on," said Chuck. "If I'm right, then the Intersect will have its own generator, and we'll establish a link from the Intersect to Dad's laptop. The upload should take about three minutes. If Alex and Casey need more time to escape, Dad will shut the power off again."

"That is if we haven't already obliterated everyone," said Alex, smiling up Casey.

"Right," said Sarah, rolling her eyes. "After the upload, we'll plant a block of C4 on the CPU, and escape out the front. By then, everyone should already be back at the van. Understood?"

"Understood," everyone mumbled.

"Alex, you're cool with the tranque guns?" asked Chuck. Alex nodded, which caused Chuck to grin. "Team Tranque Guns!" he laughed, giving the girl a high-five.

"Okay!" Carina cried, clapping her hands together. "Let's do this bitch!"

Sarah pushed open the side door, letting Carina and Forrest out of the van first, before she and Chuck followed. Casey handed her and Chuck two duffel bags filled with landmines, and gave them both a nod.

"Alexandra!" Casey called to Forrest, as he jumped out of the van. The woman turned as Casey jogged over to her, and looked startled as he pulled her into a hug. "Be careful, okay?"

Even in the dark of the night, Sarah could see Forrest's cheeks burning red as she mumbled something to Casey, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. As Carina and Forrest ran down the block, Casey walked back toward the van where she, Chuck, and Alex were standing, wearing a rare smirk.

"_Check, check…_ _Sarah, can you hear me?"_ Carina's voice rang from her earpiece.

"Loud and clear." Sarah tapped Chuck's arm. "Let's go."

Chuck picked the duffel bags off the ground, and turned to Casey and Alex. "Good luck, you two. Good luck, Dad."

"You too, son," said Stephen, waving Chuck away. "Go! You have to hurry."

With a quick nod, Chuck handed Sarah the lighter duffel bag containing the zip lining equipment, and they sprinted down to the alleyway where Carina and Forrest were going to meet. Chuck stopped and planted to mines between the building.

"I'll plant the mines," said Sarah, taking Chuck's duffel bag from him. "You open up the manhole." Chuck nodded, and sprinted toward the middle of the alleyway where he began to pull the manhole cover up. Meanwhile, Sarah planted two more mines halfway from the alleyway entrance and the manhole, and sprinted down to do the same to the other end.

"You good?" Chuck asked as Sarah ran back to him.

"Yeah," Sarah breathed. "I'm good. C'mon, we gotta get to the building."

The two of them began to sprint toward the tall building across the street from the Intersect facility. When they reached the back entrance, Sarah pulled out her pick keys, and immediately began unlocking the door.

"Dad," Chuck said into his watch. "The security system is off in the building, right?"

"_Right_," Stephen replied.

"Got it!" Sarah smiled, kicking open the door. Chuck took the duffel bag, and pulled out two night vision goggles, handing one to Sarah. After they pulled the goggles on, everything in Sarah's vision turned green. It took a few seconds for her to adjust from the harsh green light. When her eyes adjusted, she and Chuck made their way to the staircase, and began climbing up the stairs to the roof entrance.

"_Okay, team_," Forrest's came from the earpiece, causing both Sarah and Chuck to freeze mid step. "_Carina and I are going in, in three…two…one_!"

"Let's go," Sarah said, "They'll be okay."

"Yeah…" Chuck mumbled, shaking his head as he ran up the stairs.

About two minutes later, she and Chuck knelt down on top of the roof, gazing over at the Intersect facility. Sarah saw Carina sprinting out of the building, a trail of operatives pursuing her. She counted about twenty men chasing after the redhead. Carina was well ahead of them. Sarah had to admit, she was quite impressed at how fast and how well Carina dodged bullets. She watched in amazement as the redheaded agent sprinted down the street, slid over parked cars, and kicked off the sides of buildings to dodge the bullets. She hoped that Forrest was doing just as well…

"Wow," said Chuck, as Carina disappeared from view. "She's good…"

"Meh…" Sarah shrugged, jokingly. "I could do better."

"I never said you couldn't," Chuck smiled, straightening up to turn toward the alleyway rendezvous. Sarah did the same, waiting for the explosion, but just then, the ground beneath her began to shake as she saw a cloud of black smoke rising from the alleyway.

"Alex, Casey, you two are up," Chuck said into his watch.

"_Ooh-rah_!" Casey replied.

Sarah brought her watch up to her mouth. "Carina, Forrest, you guys all right?"

"_Yeah_," said Carina.

"_We're good_," came Forrest's voice. "_I got grazed though. The fuckers got in a lucky shot…_"

"We'll get that patched up for you in a bit," Chuck said. "Is it bad?"

"_No_," replied Forrest. "_Just grazed my arm…I'm fine_."

"That's good," said Sarah. "Okay, get back to the van."

"_Yes, ma'am_," came Carina's voice.

"_Chuck, Sarah_," Casey's voice called. "_We count about thirty men down here_…"

"Can you proceed?" asked Sarah.

"_Hell yeah, we can_," replied Casey. "_Just letting you know, you and Bartowski are probably going to run into some more operatives_…"

"We can handle it," said Sarah.

"_Well, we're going in_."

With that, Sarah heard more gunshots ringing in her ears. Chuck ran over to the duffel bag, and tossed a grenade launcher with a loaded grappling hook over to Sarah. They took aim, and fired their hooks across to the other building.

"Okay, Dad," said Chuck, tying the end of the line to a pole. "Get ready to kill the power."

Sarah finished tying her line to a pole next to Chuck's, and stared over at the building across from her, waiting for the lights to turn off.

"_Okay_," said Stephen. "_The lights are going off in three…two…one_…"

At that, the building turned black, and Sarah and Chuck zip lined across. They landed in a roll, and he was the first to recover. She saw him flip on his goggles, and she did the same as he opened the door. From here on out, they were going to have to remain silent.

As quietly as they could, they ran down the spiraling staircase all the way down to the basement. Luckily, they did not run into any guards. If the guards were smart, they'd probably remain still if they didn't want to kill each other…

Minutes passed, and both Sarah and Chuck began to pant when they finally reached the basement. Chuck held up a fist, to tell Sarah to stay still, as he slowly, and quietly, opened to door. Sarah heard confused voices ringing through the door, as Chuck turned back to her.

"There's about thirty guys, all lined up against the walls," he whispered so quietly that Sarah could barely hear him. He pulled out two tranque guns from his holster. "I'll take the ones on the left, you take the ones on right."

Sarah nodded, as she pulled out four knives from her ankle holster. He held up three fingers, and nodded as he put down each one individually. When the last finger fell, he slowly opened the door. Sarah watched as he took out his first victim by shooting a dart into his neck in point blank range. Before the guard crumpled to the ground, Chuck caught him, and gently laid him down.

She turned to the right side of the wall, and quietly shut the door. She stepped lightly over to the closest guard, and covered his mouth as she slit his throat. Thankfully, with the chattering of the other guards, no one was able to hear the poor guy gagging in pain, desperately trying to suck in oxygen. Sarah looked down the hall way, and counted fourteen more guards on her side. She saw Chuck staring at her, and she gave him a nod.

At that, the two of them moved quickly. Sarah flicked her wrists, and four of her knives landed in the chests of four guards. She quickly pulled out two of her guns, and began to run down the hallway, firing rounds into the rest of the guards. One of her Smith & Wesson's went dry, so she dropped it. She guessed that she only had about three bullets left in her other gun, so she tucked it back into her waistband.

Seeing that she still had two guards left, Sarah quickly grabbed two more of her knives, and threw them at the guards. She watched as they fell to the ground. When she turned around, she saw Chuck grinning at her.

"Good job," he said, bringing his watch to his mouth. "Casey, Alex? You guys good?"

"_Yeah_…" Alex mumbled. "_We took out all the guards_…"

"Good job," said Chuck, pulling off his goggles. "Okay, Dad, turn the power back on. Alex and Casey, you guys can head back to the van. Sarah and I will take it from here."

"_Roger that_," Casey grunted.

Sarah pulled her goggles off as well, and in two seconds, the lights flashed back on. She looked down at the fallen guards.

"That's odd," she said, as Chuck was fumbling with his phone.

"What is?" he asked, plugging in a USB extension into the iPhone.

"They're carrying tranque guns," said Sarah, holding up a pistol from one of the fallen guards.

"Beckman wanted the person who tried to steal the Intersect alive," he said, bringing his phone up to his eye for the scan. "So that she can question them, and see who they work for…then kill them after she hears everything she needs to know."

"Hm…smart," said Sarah, stepping beside Chuck as he punched in the code to open the door.

"Open sesame," he smiled, pulling the door open. Before Sarah was able to smile back, she saw his smile begin to fade. He quickly pulled Sarah to his side, and they hid behind the solid steel door as gunshots rang down the hallway.

"More guards?" Sarah asked.

"It's Shaw," Chuck said. Without warning, she felt his fingers wrapping around her arm as he shoved her into the vault. He pulled her gun from the holster, and before she could say or do anything, he slammed the door. All she saw was white…

"CHUCK!" Her scream echoed around the large room. She felt her heart racing in fear. He was all alone out there…with Shaw! She need to help him! "Damn it! Chuck, open the door!"

Then her breath caught in her throat as she heard a faint gunshot ringing through the door.

**

* * *

**

**Gosh, another cliffhanger? Hm…well, you know what to do. :-) **


End file.
